From 5 to 7 July 2022, in Dakar, a regional meeting on firearms trafficking and related offenses in Africa was held in the framework of the DISRUPT Project.
The meeting was attended by 29 participants, all of them judges, prosecutors or law enforcement officers from Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal.
The objective was to define, develop, and promote higher standards in the investigation and prosecution of illicit firearms trafficking and related crimes in the region, and promote the establishment of joint investigation teams and other means to coordinate investigations.
The methodology of the meeting was dynamic and interactive. It was divided in three parts. The first part consisted of a series of presentations and interactive talks on various aspects related to the investigation and prosecution of firearms trafficking and related crimes, international cooperation tools, their application and the benefits to overcome the common difficulties encountered by countries in a case with a transnational component.
In the second part, the participating countries presented cases/investigations on firearms trafficking or related or associated crimes. To respect the confidentiality of the investigation, the cases were anonymized, taking out the names and other sensitive details of the investigation.
This project is funded by the European Union.
