Pirates made $170M in ransoms from hijacking last year
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piracy at sea
Pirates made millions of dollars last year in ransoms for hijacked vessels and crews, according to head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC).
Yury Fedotov briefed the Security Council on the problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia, which he said is a growing issue.
He warned that the laundering of money from piracy is causing steep price rises in the Horn of Africa.
Mr. Fedotov said the money is also being reinvested into criminal activities such as drugs, weapons and alcohol smuggling as well as human trafficking.
"Based on our data, in 2011, pirates received about $170 million in ransoms for hijacked vessels and crews. The figure has risen since the previous year 2010 when ransoms paid amounted to over $110 million. The average payment made to pirates last year was about $5 million although as much as 10 million was paid for the release of a tanker."
Duration: 24"
In a resolution it adopted on Wednesday, the Security Council stressed the need to investigate, prosecute and imprison pirates and those who finance, plan, organize and profit from pirate attacks.
