18 - 22 September 2017 CRIMJUST took part at the 27th HONLEAF to discuss strategies to enhance capacities of law enforcement agencies to counter transnational organized crime and to promote international cooperation of law enforcement agencies
Mid-September the Twenty-seventh Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa (HONLEAF) took part in Hurghada, Egypt. As part of the UNODC delegation, the CRIMJUST participated at the meeting and underlined that the Law Enforcement Agencies are key stakeholders at the investigative side concerning drug trafficking and organized crime. The high sophistication and creativity of OC call for an adaption of Law Enforcement Agencies to enhance related responses to ensure the disruption of drug flows.
North America, and Western and Central Europe continue to be the main consumer markets for cocaine in the world, and its supply originates in South America. The emergence of new routes into Europe have led to the involvement of West African countries, which organized crime groups use as transit points. Especially countries in West Africa have reported large seizures in recent years: Nigeria has recovered over 100 kilograms of cocaine every year since 2003, Ghana has seized a total of 1.3 tons from 2013 to 2014. These developments once more stress the importance for the active involvement of CRIMJUST in West Africa and the need for constantly upgrading training on investigation and prosecution of organized crime and cocaine trafficking on the international level.
Under the framework of the CRIMJUST project funded by European Union Cocaine Route Programme, UNODC and its partners (INTERPOL and TI) aim to assist Member States to enhance their capacity and integrity of criminal justice institutions to detect, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate illicit cocaine trafficking cases, and to foster cooperation at the interregional level for effective action to tackle drug trafficking and related organized crime.
For more information:
- European Union "Cocaine Route Programme"
- Statistical Analysis of Drug Trafficking trends in Africa and worldwide
