On 7 March 2023, GIFP component COLIBRI organised the Global Feedback Meeting for Operation Rutilant. Over 150 participants attended online while the COLIBRI team moderated the meeting from the WCO headquarters in Brussels. This hybrid meeting was attended by administrations from COLIBRI partner countries that participated in operation Rutilant to include Customs, Police and civil aviation authorities as well as the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N), WCO’s Regional Intelligence Liaison Office South America (RILOSA), and the Spanish Guardia Civil among others.
In his opening remarks Mr Ricardo Treviño Chapa, Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, thanked the European Union for their continued support and commitment to COLIBRI. He stressed that GA presents a major threat in illicit flows, for which reliable data lacks. Highlighting that Operation Rutilant was the first international joint effort targeting general aviation (GA) Mr Chapa stressed its importance in fully operationalising the COLIBRI developed Geoportal tool and its mobile application, which “can be a key asset to plan and carry out effective controls, risk and trend analysis” opening the doors to the collection of geospatial data. Mr. Chapa concluded by reaffirming the WCO’s efforts in disrupting trafficking via GA and that Operation Rutilant sends a strong signal to the General Aviation sector by saying that ”we must ensure more controls on this means of transport in order to make it less vulnerable to organised crime activities”.
Ms Natalie Pauwels, Head of Unit at the Global, Transregional Threats and Challenges of the Service for Foreign Policy Instrument of the European Commission highlighted the importance of the GIFP as a “key pillar of the EU’s global efforts to counter transnational organised crime tackling both the interdiction and criminal justice dimensions”. Ms Pauwels also marked the importance of operation Rutilant as “a first step for developing a common understanding of the general aviation flows and address the current lack of analysis, risks factors and the scale of the problems to better address them”.
The COLIBRI Project Coordinator, Mr. Lorenzo Martinez Fernandez provided a general overview of Operation Rutilant and its achievements. Operation Rutilant took place from 14 to 22 January following two preparatory meetings, held in Lima and Dakar respectively. It provided the opportunity to consolidate knowledge delivered through training, promote controls, enhance communication and information exchange between regions, as well as identify critical stakeholders working on general aviation. The operation resulted in two seizures of cocaine, totalling approximately 948 kgs, in addition to 23 immobilized aircraft due to administrative infractions and the localization of various illegal/clandestine runways.
In continuation representatives of the COLIBRI partner countries participating in the operation presented their operational plans, including the resources committed to the operation, highlighting the coordination between the various administrations that contributed.
Participants considered the Geoportal and CENcomm tools provided by COLIBRI were vital throughout the operation as they offered a secure platform for information sharing and communicating. The majority of representative underlined that the operation served as a catalyst for greater national engagement and controls in general aviation as well as enhanced international cooperation.
