Successful implementation of the first COLIBRI National Online Training Course in Uruguay between 20-31 July 2020 The COLIBRI Project is designed to improve coordination and information sharing in order to develop the capacities of customs officials and their partners in the fight against organized crime and illicit trafficking, to strengthen the rule of law and…
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected air traffic worldwide, the AIRCOP network remains attentive and operational. In June 2020, several of the AIRCOP JAITFs in collaboration with partners and beneficiaries in Latin America and the Caribbean intercepted multiple illicit commodities that included: 95 kg of cannabis from six different and independent seizures made by…
700 kg of cocaine was seized at the Yokohama seaport in Japan in March 2020. The drugs were hidden in a container transporting boxes of bananas. According to the Japanese authorities, the drugs more than likely arrived by mistake as a result of traffickers not being able to unload at ports prior to Yokohama. Over 1600…
COLIBRI, the GIFP project with a special focus on general aviation The project “Monitoring and Controlling General Aviation along the cocaine route”, or COLIBRI, is a technical assistance and capacity-building programme part of the Global Illicit Flows Programme since its in inception in January 2019. It has been conceived to bring together the skills necessary…
Turkish authorities announced that 2384kgs of heroin have been seized as a result of international operational cooperation with five countries and EUROPOL. The seizures are the result of an investigation that followed a seizure of 300kgs of heroin in Genoa, Italy, back in 2018. The biggest seizure of 1105kgs was made in Kazakhstan, 703kgs in Germany, 350kgs…
Several suspects of Montenegrin nationality are currently detained in Aruba. They were arrested following the interception of the vessel “Arresa” in which five tonnes of cocaine was discovered onboard. This seizure was the result of an operation led by the Netherlands and Colombia and involved several months of investigation that included Serbian, British and Montenegrin…
CRIMJUST, ENACT and SEACOP, three initiatives of the Global Illicit Flows Programme, held their steering committees in Brussels, Belgium, respectively on 30 January, 12 and 13 February. The projects presented their respective latest achievements. It was also the forum for each of them to discuss the strategic directions for 2020. Partners and projects operating in…
For 5 days, from 25 to 29 November, participants exchanged on coordination and synergies, but also challenges in the fight against illicit trafficking, and in particular drug trafficking, both inside and outside Europe. The launch of the EU Drug Market’s Report on 26 November underpinned discussions on the current global drug production and European consumption,…
The poaching and smuggling of marine life are increasingly treated as organised crime in South Africa. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing have traditionally been dealt with as fisheries management issues by the government, resulting in low penalties for offenders. But regional initiatives like FishFORCE, training law enforcement officers and prosecutors, have resulted in greater awareness…
SEACOP organised a transregional meeting of Maritime Intelligence Units (MIUs) in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in Bogota, Colombia, from 2 to 4 July 2019. The event aimed at promoting communication between the different regions affected by the cocaine route, as well as improve cooperation to better intercept vessels suspected of transporting illicit drugs.…
