Pretoria:South Africa is set to host regional police and security leaders on Thursday for discussions aimed at strengthening cooperation against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime. The meeting, taking place in Pretoria, will explore the establishment of a proposed regional center to enhance intelligence-sharing and coordinate joint law enforcement operations.
According to South African Government News Agency, the Ministerial Troika Meeting of the Trilateral Planning Cell (TPC) is organized by the South African Police Service. It will be led by Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, alongside Deputy Ministers Dr. Polly Boshielo and Cassel Mathale. Key participants include the Minister of the Interior of Mozambique, Paulo Chachine; the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office of Tanzania, Professor Palamagamba John Kabudi; the Minister of Internal Affairs of Uganda, Juma Witonzo Kisekka; and the Secretary of State of the Ministry of the Interior of Angola, General Arnaldo Manuel Carlos.
The TPC, a multilateral initiative, was established in Maputo, Mozambique, by ministers responsible for policing in South Africa, Mozambique, and Tanzania, with backing from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The initiative focuses on tackling the flow of illicit drugs along the Southern Route through enhanced regional cooperation, intelligence-sharing, and coordinated law enforcement.
The meeting will occur under the theme “Strengthening Transnational Coordination to Better Identify External Factors Contributing to Organised Crime in the Trilateral States.” It aims to bring together key regional and international stakeholders to discuss strategies to combat drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.
Discussions will also center on a proposed initiative to create a Regional Joint Counter-Narcotics and Organised Crime Fusion Centre. This center is intended to bolster information sharing, intelligence coordination, and joint responses to organized criminal networks operating across borders.
