The European Commission will provide additional funding for the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP) to disrupt the illegal networks that are disseminating drugs and other illicit products through smarter, more effective, well-connected and intelligence-led counter-narcotic activities of participating airports.
Its purpose is to strengthen detection, interdiction and intelligence capacities in several countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The European Commissioner for Development, Mr. Andris Piebalgs, disclosed in Accra that organised crime, drug trafficking and the damage that they bring were a global problem that required a strong and coordinated response.
He said criminal organisations were responding to the success of coordinated law-enforcement agency efforts with new smuggling methods and it was therefore important to continue their collective efforts to counter drug trafficking and protect people in the EU and countries where illicit products were produced and transported.
Since the launch of the AIRCOP project in 2010, he said the EU had contributed almost €8 million, while a newly announced funding of €3 million is for the third phase of the project, which will cover up to the end of 2016.
The programme is implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL).
The participating countries in Africa include Benin, Cameroun, Cape Verde, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo and Senegal, while those from Latin America and the Caribbean are the Dominican Republic and Panama.
The AIRCOP programme had established Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces (JAITF) in participating international airports and connected them to international law enforcement databases and communication networks to promote intelligence and information sharing between services at national and international levels, he noted.
He said this included encouraging real time transmission of information when illicit shipments were intercepted, as well as an intelligence-led approach to countering drug trafficking, adding that the project also organises national and regional trainings as well as joint operations.
Trafficking in drugs is one of the major sources of revenue of organised crime and it is not only a threat to public health, but also poses a serious threat to peace and stability, while it undermines economic and social development, and contributes to crime and insecurity.
Source: Daily Graphic
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