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Intelligence Coordination Centre to combat transnational crime in South Asia
A high powered meeting to form a South Asian Regional Intelligence Coordination Centre (SARICC) to share criminal intelligence and operations among countries to help combat transnational crime in the South Asian region, is to be held in Colombo next week.
The move comes in the wake of a push by the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC ) to form a regional centre that will combat transnational organized crimes in the region.
The meeting to be held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel on Nov.23-24 will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Law & Order and Southern Development, and the UNODC Regional Office for South Asia, with the support of Sri Lanka’s Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention (PTFDP).
It is expected that the Permanent Secretaries of Home and Interior Ministries of countries in the region including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, together with over 40 senior officials, will focus on border crime and law enforcement against drug smuggling in the region.
PTFDP Director Dr Samanthakumara Kithalawalaarachchi said as drug smuggling by sea has increased, using Sri Lanka as transit location, emphasis will be on meaningful exchange of information and criminal intelligence sharing on organized crimes and establishing a criminal intelligence platform among states to maintain peace in the region.
In the past, a number of regional centres for exchanging criminal intelligence and coordinating operational responses have been established worldwide with technical assistance from UNDOC, and SARICC will also use the expertise and experience of the UNDOC. The Central Asian Regional Information Co-ordination Centre (CARICC) was established with technical assistance and collaboration of UNODC.
SARICC once established will function adhering to global standards and norms in generating and exchanging comparative data and information that will promote cross-border consultations and cooperation.
Also, the Centre will enable access to sophisticated technical expertise and global knowledge products in various fields of transnational organized crime including drug trafficking.
The final decision to set up SARICC will be on a unanimous decision of all participating member States. The States will be invited to agree upon the most relevant and suitable option for the region. A second meeting to firm up the future path based on decisions and proposals taken next week, will be held in January 2018.