Trafficking of precursors was the focus of the expert meeting hosted by SELEC at its headquarters in Bucharest during 23-24 October 2017. The meeting, organized under the framework of the Paris Pact Initiative jointly by UNODC and SELEC, was attended by specialists from Paris Pact partners countries and organizations including SELEC Member States and Partners, as well as from Afghanistan, People’s Republic of China, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan as well as representatives of the European Union EU-ACT, Europol, GCC-CIC, INCB, Interpol and SCO.
The meeting was opened by Ms. Snejana Maleeva, Acting Director General of SELEC, Ms. Marie-Anne Menier, Paris Pact Coordinator, UNODC Division for Operations and Mr. Mark Colhoun, Deputy Representative / Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, UNODC Country Office for Afghanistan.
During her intervention, Ms. Maleeva highlighted SELEC activities and results in the field of anti-drug trafficking and reiterated that SELEC is a Paris Pact Initiative partner, supporting this partnership in combating opiates trafficking.
Identifying and raising awareness of potential weak points in licit trade mechanisms as well as illicit trafficking chains in order to identify where law enforcement actions can be most effective, determining what mechanisms are in place to prevent diversions of precursor chemicals using Internet platforms, assessing law enforcement actions in support of the existing monitoring and backtracking mechanisms, were among the objectives of the expert meeting.
Since its inception in 2003, the international coalition known as the Paris Pact Initiative has evolved into one of the most important frameworks for combating illicit traffic in opiates originating in Afghanistan.