The South African Police Service (SAPS) in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is hosting a two-day engagement to endorse a Strategy to counter Maritime Drug Trafficking on the Southern Route from 28 – 29 March 2022, at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg, Gauteng.
The meeting involving Senior Officials and Ministers from three countries namely South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania, provides a platform for overseers at all land, air and sea ports to account and report on progress made in strengthening cooperation and countering the illicit flow of heroin and crystal methamphetamine on the Southern Route.
Since 2019, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania have been signatories to a Statement of Understanding through a Trilateral Planning Cell(TPC). The Trilateral Planning Cell is responsible for the coordination of joint operations at sea, air and land ports of entry between the three countries.
With its base in Mozambique, the Trilateral Planning Cell seeks to ensure regional cooperation and the implementation of practical solutions in the fight against large scale drug trafficking by setting out practical steps in disrupting as well as deterring organized criminal networks associated with the heroin trade into and or via the three countries.
Prior to the establishment of the TPC, the three countries experienced large volumes of heroin entering the region. The Heroin was mostly shipped by means of dhows (small vessels), crossing the Indian Ocean and transiting the coast line to the trilateral countries. The drugs would thereafter be shipped to a number of destinations across the world.
Following the establishment of the Trilateral strategy, the Tripartite Alliance has notably made inroads in disrupting and dismantling these organized criminal networks.
This meeting will see senior officials share information and best practices with the aim of identifying organized crime syndicates operating in the region. It will culminate with a program of action by the TPC which will encompass joint cross border operations and an opportunity for Ministers of the three countries to provide an oversight commitment to counter drug trafficking and associated criminal activity in the region.
Support to this initiative has to date been facilitated by the UNODC’s Global Maritime Crime Programme and funded by the US State Department: Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL).
