Director-General/Executive Director
Doha, 15 April 2015
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are meeting here today to end impunity on the high seas.
A lack of enforcement capacity and limited jurisdiction are threatening to turn the Indian Ocean into a haven for criminal activity.
As cultivation and production of opium have reached record highs in Afghanistan, heroin is being trafficked via the southern maritime route to Africa, and then overland to markets in Europe and elsewhere.
Recent research conducted by the Global Maritime Crime Programme indicates an increase in Dhow traffic between known departure points for heroin trafficking and the east coast of Africa and South Asia, with traffickers adopting innovative concealment methods and using several drop-off points to smaller vessels.
More robust responses are clearly needed. As we strengthen the fight against transnational organized crime on land, it is imperative that the maritime domain is not left out.
We have some notable successes in addressing maritime crime that can help us to take this fight forward.
Working with Member States and other partners, UNODC has been able to achieve concrete results in the fight against maritime piracy.
The piracy prosecution model we've helped to develop together with states in East Africa offers a unique mechanism, promoting efficient and effective regional solutions to a regional problem.
As a result, the four piracy prosecution states - Kenya, Seychelles, Mauritius and Tanzania - have tried 314 suspected pirates over the past four years.
Moreover, we have supported the development of transfer agreements and facilitated the suspect-transfer process in prosecuting states.
We have provided support to law enforcement and police, as well as to prosecutors and the judiciary.
We have also helped to build or renovate correctional facilities in line with international minimum standards.
Building on these successes in prosecuting piracy, UNODC's Global Maritime Crime Programme broadened its mandate to address transnational organized crime in the maritime domain.
The first consultative meeting to counter impunity at sea was held last September. Our discussions made clear that narcotics trafficking on the high seas has emerged as a serious threat to Indian Ocean coastal states.
Participants at the Vienna meeting agreed that a contact group mechanism could help to consolidate efforts to confront this threat, and the Indian Ocean Forum on Maritime Crime was the outcome.
The forum provides a much-needed platform to develop regional and inter-regional cooperation, with an initial focus on four thematic areas, namely heroin trafficking, human trafficking, wildlife crime and fisheries crime.
Two technical-level meetings have been held in Djibouti and Seychelles, including a meeting on heroin trafficking which took place just a few weeks ago, with law enforcement and prosecution officials from 16 countries - including representatives from South Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, Southern Africa and Australia.
The recommendations from all of these discussions will be submitted to a ministerial meeting, to be held in October.
UNODC remains committed to supporting these efforts, and enhancing enforcement capability through improved information sharing mechanisms, as well as track and reporting to coastal states.
While there remain challenges with prosecuting narcotics traffickers detected at sea, we will continue to work with coastal states to introduce enabling legislation, in line with international conventions, that will help to improve investigations and strengthen criminal justice responses.
In closing, allow me to thank all our partners for their support and engagement in the Maritime Crime Programme.
I would also like to commend the counter narcotics operations conducted by the Combined Maritime Forces under CTF 150.
I look forward to further strengthening our cooperation to confront drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean.
Thank you.