OTAPI (AFRIPOL’s Cross-Border Operation Against Illicit Products) has dismantled networks involved in trafficking prohibited products.

From October 14 to 20, 2024, this operation brought together several African countries, including Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic, in a coordinated effort to combat organized crime. It involved police, immigration, customs, and forestry services, with active participation from the AFRIPOL National Liaison Bureaus (NLBs) of the involved countries.

The operation mainly targeted trafficking in illicit products such as drugs, pharmaceuticals, small arms and light weapons (SALW), counterfeit and contraband goods, human trafficking, document fraud and environmental crime. Its main objective was to detect, disrupt and deter criminal networks active in the region, while capitalizing on joint efforts to overcome the challenges posed by porous borders and the limited resources of participating states.

The OTAPI data collection approach was based on operational intelligence combined with tactical interventions. The methodologies employed included:

a. Surveillance and field operations: Law enforcement teams set up checkpoints at land borders, airports, ports and other strategic locations to screen people, vehicles and goods.

b. Document verification: In high-risk areas such as Togo, digital verification tools were used to identify and detect falsified documents.

OTAPI’s achievements have led AFRIPOL’s Acting Executive Director, Mr Jalel Chelba, to point out that “Unfortunately, many factors enable criminal networks to pursue their harmful activities with impunity on the African continent. These factors include porous borders, insufficient human and technical resources, and low levels of inter- and intra-agency cooperation”. It is precisely to strengthen this cooperation and coordinate the efforts of police services with each other and with other law enforcement entities that Operation OTAPI has been implemented. The aim is to neutralize all criminal networks operating across borders. Whether it’s smuggling, trafficking in food products, drugs, pharmaceuticals, firearms, protected species or any other illicit product, nothing can escape the nets of the services involved in OTAPI.

The Acting Executive Director stated that “the results achieved by these brave officers, who watch over our security day and night, have exceeded our expectations. It is clear that together, the illicit activities of criminal networks cannot prosper. The African Union Police Cooperation Mechanism (AFRIPOL) will never give up to guarantee a safe Africa.”

The Operation OTAPI has enabled the law enforcement services involved to seize illicit products and make a number of arrests:

In Benin, 4 people were arrested for human trafficking and 1 for falsifying travel documents. In addition, law enforcement officers checked 34,582 people at border entrances and exits, 6,614 vehicles and 27,143 travel documents, including passports and identity cards.

In Cameroon, the OTAPI operation achieved significant results in several crime categories. In the field of drug trafficking, 25 kg of cannabis were seized with a transport vehicle, as well as 7 bags of Indian hemp, 349 small drug sachets, 35.42 grams of “cailloux”, 4 packets of cannabis, and 15 kg of cannabis buried in 30 parcels. In addition, 628 strands of cannabis, 57 additional strands, and 79 Tramadol tablets were intercepted. With regard to environmental crime, several live crocodiles were found in a vehicle abandoned by poachers. With regard to human trafficking, 2 Vietnamese victims were rescued after having been sexually exploited. Finally, for arms trafficking, a shipment of 3,000 rounds of M21 ammunition, 25 rounds of PA ammunition, 119 rounds of AK47 Kalashnikov ammunition, as well as knives and machetes, were confiscated.

In the Central African Republic, 37 people were arrested, 9 of whom were remanded in custody, with major seizures including 171 boxes of Tramadol (2,907,000 FCFA), 4 kg of Indian hemp (16,340 FCFA), 924 cartons of adulterated drinks (2,217,600 FCFA), as well as 3,152 boxes of stimulants and a dummy weapon.

In Nigeria, 13.30 kg of heroin concealed in backpacks were seized, with the arrest of 2 suspects, as well as 50 bags of 50 kg of smuggled rice and a stolen vehicle.

In Chad, 40 kg of cannabis, 2,000 Tramadol tablets and 160 cartons of adulterated drinks were seized, and 5 stolen vehicles, identified in INTERPOL’s database, were immobilized.

In Togo, a person from Nigeria was arrested in possession of 605 false visas from 10 different countries, concealed in a cool box; he was incarcerated after investigation.

The results achieved by AFRIPOL’s Operation OTAPI demonstrate the great need to combine efforts between law enforcement agencies in order to dismantle networks involved in the trafficking of prohibited products.