Lisbon, Portugal – 19 June 2024 – The EU-funded SEACOP project on Monday held the first inter-regional event under its 6th phase in Lisbon, Portugal. Titled ‘From America to Africa: Global Cooperation to Disrupt the New Illicit Maritime Route,’ the landmark event brought together around 90 high-level representatives from 20 countries of Latin America, West Africa, the Caribbean and EU Member States.
Organised under the umbrella of the EU Global Illicit Flows Programme, with the support of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC-N), the trans-regional workshop aims to analyse how to better combat the new route of illicit trafficking from the Americas to Africa, emphasising the importance of strengthening links between the two sides of the Atlantic.
Voices from the participants
“As the threats keep evolving, we witness a different type of crime -a lot more trafficking in persons, in arms, and of course drugs, and we are not yet ready to fight these threats. Through SEACOP, and platforms like this one we are hoping to strengthen regional and global collaboration so we can lean on each other’s resources to fight these evolving threats,” explained Andre Ally, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs of Guyana.
“Drug trafficking is ’emerging’ because it seeks the same routes as smuggling did in the past, taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of the authorities and cracks in security and control systems to enter our countries, either as a transit point to other countries and regions or to be collected and then loaded onto ships bound for Africa and Europe,” explained Rear Admiral José Luis Elizondo of Uruguay’s National Naval Prefecture.
“No single player can deal with illegal maritime traffic. So we need cooperation at national level, bringing together all the players involved – judicial, security, administrative, economic – but also at sub-regional level, in the Atlantic Ocean,” explained Laré Penn, Head of Cabinet of the High Council for the Sea in Togo.
Roundtables and exchanges
Through engaging roundtables and experts’ presentations, the event seeks to foster a dynamic exchange of good practices and strategies between law enforcement officials from SEACOP’s partner countries as well as major actors in the field of maritime security.
“By bringing all these major actors around a table, this meeting aims to boost global cooperation in identifying and ultimately disrupting new illicit maritime routes along the trans-Atlantic axis,” explained SEACOP Project Director Dominique Bucas, citing thematic roundtables such as ‘Africa: the new frontier for organised crime groups?’, ‘Operational response to maritime illicit trafficking’ and presentations on maritime law and environmental criminality, among others.
About SEACOP
SEACOP was first launched in 2010 to contribute to the fight against maritime illicit trade and associated criminal networks in 30+ countries of the Caribbean, Latin America and West Africa. Currently in its sixth phase of implementation, the project seeks to help alleviate illicit trafficking’s negative impact on security, public health and socio-economic development. It also puts a particular emphasis on gender equality and the fight against environmental criminality.
Implemented under the umbrella of the Global Illicit Flows Programme of the European Union, SEACOP is led by Expertise France and FIIAPP.
