West Africa border operation uncovers trafficking victims, gold bars and fake pharmaceuticals

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire – More than 100 potential human trafficking victims, including 35 minors, were identified and rescued during an INTERPOL-led operation to strengthen border controls in West Africa.

Border officers tested innovative prototype tablets permitting checks against INTERPOL databases and other services such as passport scanning.

The seven-day (16 - 22 July) Operation Adwenpa IV involved more than 200 frontline officers from 13 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Many of the minors, aged between 12 and 17, were identified at the land border between Benin and Niger. In Ghana, authorities identified more than 50 potential victims travelling to the Middle East for employment.

MIND technology, which allows frontline officers to run checks against INTERPOL's database of wanted people and stolen and lost travel documents and receive an instant response, was used at the 23 airports and land border operational hubs.

As part of INTERPOL’s permanent effort to tailor technical solutions to the policing needs of each of its 194 member countries, officers also tested innovative prototype tablets permitting checks against INTERPOL databases anytime and anywhere whether a network is available or not.

MIND technology was used at the 23 airports and land borders to run checks against INTERPOL's databases.

These reinforced, systematic border checks led to 270,000 checks during the operation generating 13 ‘hits’, including stolen or lost travel documents and individuals sought for fraud, the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cocaine trafficking.

For the first time, three participating countries used the West Africa Police Information System (WAPIS), which allows officers to access critical police information from their national criminal databases. This led to a hit on a suspect known to police for identity theft on a social networking site.

Operational highlights:

• At the border between Liberia and Sierra Leone, a Guinean national travelling without official identification was caught with six bars of solid gold worth USD 120,000;
• In Côte d’Ivoire, smugglers attempted to bring in a total of 12,000 kg of counterfeit pharmaceutical products from Ghana. The seizures are estimated to have a market value of EUR 900,000;
• Illicit drugs including cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines were also seized throughout the region;
• Authorities in Guinea arrested a passenger arriving from Paris via Casablanca with EUR 327,025 in cash hidden in his luggage.

At the border between Liberia and Sierra Leone, a Guinean national travelling without official identification was caught with six bars of solid gold worth USD 120,000.

In Côte d’Ivoire, smugglers attempted to smuggle 12,000 kg of counterfeit pharmaceutical products from Ghana.

Illicit drugs including cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines were also seized throughout the region.

Systematic border checks enabled the detection of several suspects sought for fraud, the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and drug trafficking.

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Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, Adwenpa IV builds on the success of the previous three such operations as part of a multi-year capacity building programme to strengthen border management in West Africa.

The seven-day Operation Adwenpa IV involved more than 200 frontline officers from 13 West African countries.