Customs service intercepts drugs, other items worth over N200m

Afghan security forces set fire to a pile of seized narcotics and alcohol during the National Mobilization Week against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, in the Deh Sabz district on the outskirts of Kabul.

Four drugs companies in the United States have agreed to pay up to $26 billion to settle claims that they fuelled an opioid addiction crisis in the country. The deal was unveiled by a group of state attorneys general and could settle thousands of cases over the epidemic. Opioid addiction is estimated to have claimed over one million lives in the US. Individual states and local governments will now have to sign up to the deal, but there are divisions over how the payout will be shared.

Thousands protest in the Philippines capital Manila as they mark one year left in power for President Rodrigo Duterte. The groups -- from several different sectors -- are calling for Duterte to step down. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hailed his signature drug war policy, but lamented there was a "long way" to go in the controversial crackdown that has killed thousands of people.

The killing of a top journalist in the Netherlands shows that drugs gangs are increasingly likely to use violence, a new German report shows. It also highlighted increased trafficking of "New Psychoactive Substances."

President Duterte's legal counsel said the Hague-based war crimes court has no jurisdiction to probe the Philippines' anti-drug crackdown. He added that ICC investigators will not be allowed entry into the country.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣

Prosecutors labeled it "the largest haul discovered so far this year" as Rotterdam becomes a favorite European entry point for cocaine. Europol said the Netherlands and Belgium are becoming hubs for cocaine trafficking.

The boy had stolen the cannabis from his father and, along with friends, set it alight, police said. The father is being investigated for drug possession.

The International Criminal Court said it was suspending the investigation it launched in September to look into a deferral request by Manila. Human rights groups slammed the decision, urging it to continue work.

Twenty years ago, Portugal was plagued with heroin addiction and HIV infections. The country decided to take a new approach to the problem, becoming the first in the world to decriminalise drug taking. Since then, drug users are no longer treated as criminals to be locked up in jail, but as people who need medical care and supervision. The gamble has paid off, as our team found out.

Startups in Nigeria are helping fight counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs in Africa's most populous nation, where the prevalence rate of fake drugs is higher than the global average and contributes to the deaths of thousands of children and adults annually.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.