LYON, France - An operation targeting the smuggling of dangerous chemicals conducted across Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines resulted in the recovery of a hijacked ship and a number of arrests.
The Indonesian-flagged vessel, which was used to ship chemicals, was recovered by Philippine authorities on 23 February.
The seizure was part of a five-day operation (23 - 27 February) at Davao International Seaport in the Philippines, Tunon Taka International Seaport in Indonesia and Bukit Kayu Hitam at the Malaysian border with Thailand, as part of INTERPOL’s Chemical Anti-smuggling Enforcement (Chase) programme.
Around 500 law enforcement officers including police, customs, maritime security, immigration, border and government chemical agencies took part in the operation and carried out more than 45,000 checks of individuals, documents, vessels and cars against INTERPOL’s databases.
Preceded by training provided by INTERPOL’s Chemical and Explosives Terrorism Prevention unit, a key objective of the operation was to improve cooperation and communication between the various agencies across all three countries.