Mark Colhoun - Wikiwand

South African civil servant

Preceded byAndrés Finguerut (Stefano Berterame ad'interim)

Educationanalytical chemistry, security studies

Mark Colhoun

Secretary, INCB
In office 2021–2025
Preceded by	Andrés Finguerut (Stefano Berterame ad'interim)

Personal details
Born	South Africa
Education	analytical chemistry, security studies

Mark Colhoun is a South African police officer and international civil servant specialised in precursor chemicals. He was formerly Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).^[1]^[2]

Colhoun studied analytical chemistry and graduated in security studies.^[3] He then joined the South African Police Service for 17 years^[3] as part of the South African Narcotics Bureau (formed in 1974) where he worked already on illicit international markets and precursors of synthetic drugs.^[4]

He was advisor in the precursors section of the INCB from 1999 to 2007,^[5]^[6] then law enforcement adviser at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Central Asia Office in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) from 2007 to 2010.

Colhoun was subsequently the UNODC's country deputy representative,^[7] then main representative in Kabul (Afghanistan), from 2010 to 2021,^[8]^[9] before his nomination "as Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and Chief of the INCB Secretariat effective 1 March 2021."^[3]^[10]^[11]

References

↑ INCB (2023). "secretary". www.incb.org. Archived from the original on 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
↑ Publications, Europa (2024-07-25). The Europa Directory of International Organizations 2024. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-040-09286-6.
1 2 3 "International Narcotics Control Board welcomes Mark Colhoun as new Secretary". : INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
↑ Leggett, Ted (2001). Rainbow Vice: The Drugs and Sex Industries in the New South Africa. New Africa Books. pp. 85–7, 197. ISBN 978-0-86486-503-8.
↑ UNODC, Regional Office for South Asia (2006). Precursor Control at a Glance: Regional Precursor Control Project for SAARC countries (RAS/938) (PDF). pp. preface.
↑ Kanmaz, Mehmet A. (2014). "Countering terrorist financing: a case study of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Security Studies". calhoun.nps.edu. Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School. p. 61. Archived from the original on 2024-06-16. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
↑ "'Alarming spike' in drug seizures at Afghan airports". Gulf Times. 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
↑ "UN: Afghan Opium Cultivation Down 20 Percent". Voice of America. 2018-11-19. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
↑ Ahmadi, Arif (2020-09-17). "Officials Lay Foundation to Build Counter Narcotics Canine Center in Kabul". Khaama Press. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
↑ "The Inside Story-Afghanistan Addiction (Interview)". Voice of America. 2021. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
↑ Publications, Europa (2021-07-28). The Europa Directory of International Organizations 2021. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-42791-2.

Diplomatic posts

Preceded by

Andrés Finguerut (Stefano Berterame ad'interim)

Secretary, International Narcotics Control Board
2021–2025

Succeeded by

Stefano Berterame (ad'interim)

Preceded by

Country Representative, UNODC country office in Afghanistan
2010–2021

Succeeded by

v t e Law enforcement in South Africa
Department of Police	South African Police Service Crime Intelligence Hawks National Intervention Unit NFDD Special Task Force Municipal Police Independent Police Investigative Directorate	Flag of South Africa
Department of Correctional Services	Prisons Life imprisonment
Crime	Sexual violence (Corrective rape) Xenophobic violence Farm attacks Taxi wars Terrorism Corruption Human trafficking Kidnapping
Commissions of Inquiry	Farlam Commission Khayelitsha Commission Zondo Commission
See also	Law Private security industry Gun politics Biometrics use Scorpions (The Directorate of Special Operations) Public Protector

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