The COLIBRI Working Group on General Aviation was established to serve as an information sharing event to facilitate interaction among practitioners, discuss the GA threat and identify common areas of interest. The meetings are also meant to facilitate exchange of best practices between specialists on GA and increase joint operational work. After a successful inauguration meeting held in September 2022, the COLIBRI Working Groupon General Aviation organised by MASIF held its second meeting on 10 February 2023 in Brussels. The meeting was hosted by the World Customs Organization (WCO) which implements the COLIBRI Project. The WCO Compliance and Enforcement Deputy Director in his opening remarks pointed out the importance of the cooperation between Customs, other Law Enforcement Administrations and competent authorities to enhance control on GA use and activities.
The meeting focused on the results of the first COLIBRI led operation Rutilant. The operation aimed to consolidate the knowledge delivered through capacity building, promote greater controls of general aviation flights and assess the deployment and use of IT tools (Geoportal and CENcomm). The crucial involvement and collaboration with MAOC(N) during the operation was highlighted. Most importantly however, the operation provided a snapshot of the scale of GA activity from Latin America and West and Central Africa towards Europe.
In addition, a presentation by the Pompidou group provided more details on the GA specific tools available and how they could potentially complement the work of COLIBRI.
The COLIBRI Genera Aviation Working Group meetings are considered a relevant platform for bringing forward more operational engagement between practitioners from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, West and Central Africa covered by COLIBRI and Europe in the fight against illicit trafficking via general aviation.
