Anti-piracy effort applied to drug fight

Seychelles wish to benefit from their program of fight against piracy to deal with drug trafficking

By: Rassin Vannier

(Seychelles News Agency) – UNODC held a special meeting to discuss the increase in maritime traffic drugs and prosecute traffickers of drugs captured in international waters.

The Executive Director of the UNODC , the UN Office against the drug and crime Yury Fedotov said that the failure to prosecute traffickers detected high seas remains a major challenge.

“As we have seen, seizures of drugs alone does not deter criminals who are still at large because of a lack of implementation capacity. If we want to control the problem of trafficking in heroin the Indian Ocean, we must explore opportunities to pursue the traffickers drug , “said Mr. Fedotov.

Fedotov noted that in the last eighteen months, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) seized about 4,200 kg of heroin in the fight against piracy and against terrorism in missions off Africa , Middle East, and South Asia.

But because the seizures took place in international waters, the CMF was forced to leave it to the traffickers.

In doing so, the UNODC seeks to leverage its valuable experience of working with the African East to successfully prosecute and incarcerate pirates.

In his presentation, Joel Morgan, Minister of Interior, said that Seychelles “Seychelles intends to leverage its program to fight against piracy successfully to combat transnational organized crime, in particular trafficking in drugs and illegal weapons. The focus of this work is the fusion REFLECS3 “the Regional Fusion and Law Enforcement Center for Safety and Security at Sea,” which has extensive experience in the coordination and analysis of information, law enforcement and different military intelligence centers around the world ”

The event titled “The successful prosecution of piracy Model: An action plan to end impunity at sea” was attended by permanent representatives, experts and media.

Seychelles and the UNODC mark this year the fourth anniversary of their cooperation, which aims not only piracy, but also the fight against the trafficking of drugs , and being human.

Since the beginning of this cooperation Seychelles has received $ 4 million to UNODC.

Source: seychellesnewsagency.com