EU: Cocaine Route Programme
EU: Cocaine Route Programme
The rapid movement of people, goods and capital over recent years has opened up new opportunities for organised crime. In a globalised world drugs, arms, hazardous waste, protected species and the financial proceeds of crime flow rapidly across countries and continents. The authority of law enforcement and judicial authorities comes to a halt at national borders. The Cocaine Route Programme (CRP) presents a concerted effort by the European Union and its partners to staunch the flow of illicit goods and facilitate communication and cooperation of criminal investigators and prosecutors. Since 2009, the EU has committed over €50 million to the programme in more than 40 countries through the Instrument contributing to Peace and Stability. Its current focus is on transnational organised crime and drug trafficking in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa to Europe.
The Cocaine Route Programme addresses the challenge of a fragmented law enforcement approach along the trafficking route by promoting regional and trans-regional cooperation. The programme also seeks to build the capacity of law enforcement agencies and judicial bodies addressing cocaine trafficking and related criminal activity such as money laundering and the trafficking of precursor chemicals.