Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The INTERPOL has burst a syndicate terrorist supply of gasoline in the West Africa and Sahel regions of Africa, according to the United Nations Report
The terrorist operation which was disrupted by the International Security Network— INTERPOL, was done in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) transactional operation.
TheNigeriaLawyers gathered that part of the item recovered from the operation includes a large quantity of gasoline believed to has originated from Nigeria and meant for the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, were seized at both Niger and Mali.
It is equally noteworthy that sometime in early December, 2020, both agencies had seized multiple illegal firearms, ammunition, and explosives during one of its operation, codename KAFO II, carried out in Burkina Faso, Côte d’ivoire, Mali and Niger, although the origin of those items have not yet been confirmed.
Other successes the KAFO II operation recorded was the distrusting of firearm trafficking network in the region.
The KAFO II operation which focuses included the disruption of the flow of illicit goods meant for terrorist financing and criminality in the region, saw the operation conducting an inspection of over twelve thousand (12,000) persons, vehicles, containers as well as cargos, in the criminal database of the agency.
The operation Also conducted field research on the aforementioned in other to determine if the travel pass or vehicles used by those investigated were authentic or stolen for the purpose of encouraging illegality and criminality in the region.
“Among the new trends observed during this second edition of Operation KAFO is the seizure of contraband gasoline in large quantities in Niger and Mali. It would appear that the gasoline originated in Nigeria and was trafficked to finance and supply the Al Qaeda terrorist group and its affiliates,”
“In addition to the arrest of a number of suspected terrorists, police seized firearms and a host of illicit goods such as 50 firearms, 40,593 sticks of dynamite, 28 detonator cords, 6,162 rounds of ammunition, 1,473 kilos of drugs (cannabis and khat), 2,263 boxes of contraband drugs and 60,000 litres of contraband fuel,”
“In addition to the arrest of a number of suspected terrorists, police seized firearms and a host of illicit goods such as 50 firearms, 40,593 sticks of dynamite, 28 detonator cords, 6,162 rounds of ammunition, 1,473 kilos of drugs (cannabis and khat), 2,263 boxes of contraband drugs and 60,000 litres of contraband fuel,” the report from the Agency noted.
It’s noteworthy that due to the rise of criminality and international terrorism in the region, trafficking in firearms have become a lucrative business in the region. A successful trafficking of firearms has the propensity to fuel and finance other forms of illegality and criminality. According to the Secretary-General of INTERPOL, Jürgen Stock , “The fight against the illicit trafficking of firearms requires strong international and inter-agency cooperation, in order to identify the source of these weapons and bring the perpetrators to justice,” said Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of UNODC.
“In addition, more than 40,000 sticks of dynamite and detonators were seized in several locations, all intended for illegal gold mining which constitutes a new source of funding, and even a recruiting ground, for armed terrorist groups in the Sahel.” [As quoted in an article titled “UN and Interpol tackle arms trafficking in West Africa and the Sahel”.]
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