The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Frederick Tendeng
19 June 2008
Drug trafficking and organised crime in West Africa have come under the UN microscope, prompting Said Djinnit, the head of the UN Peacekeeping Missions in West Africa, to raise concern during a recent meeting in Dakar, Senegal.
"The information we received are disturbing. Some relatively large quantities of drugs are transported from the coast to the Sahelian Niger and later moved to Europe," he said.
He went on to say that the situation at hand requires a collective response, adding that the UN will continue to support initiatives to promote regional cooperation. Mr Djinnit also made a link between such situation and the upsurge of rebellion in countries like Mali and Niger.
Meanwhile, the Dakar-based UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) representative, Antonio Mazzitelli, told reporters during a news briefing, on Thursday, that his organisation would set up a special unit tasked with the responsibility of dealing with crime prevention and repression for Guinea-Bissau police. Mr Mazzitelli disclosed that UNDOC has released €2 million for the West African state, which has recently become a cross-road for drug-trafficking and cross-border criminal activities.
This money will cover "the training of criminal police, operational capacity building, regarding investigation, extradition and exchange of judicial information", Antonio Mazzitelli said.
"In addition to these actions, We should help to modernise the administrative and legislative framework with respect to the system, for handling data and standards approved in the UN", he said. He then added: "This unit was set up upon the request of the Guinea-Bissau government".
The press briefing follows a meeting in Saly (105 km south of Dakar), between various stakeholders from 27 West, Central and North African countries, as part of the fight against drug and cross-border criminal activities.
This workshop mainly sought to strengthen relations among players from various countries and "the establishment of a solid network through greater information exchanges among countries and police", the head of the Department of Organised Crime and Criminal Justice at UNODC, Valérie Lebaux, said.
"Today, all states are aware of the negative impact terrorism can have on their economies and population", Marie-Hélène Gozzi, expert in terrorism prevention, observed.
The Saly meeting came after the adoption of the Dakar Declaration, in September 2007, which was endorsed by 23 West and Central African countries in the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime.
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