PRETORIA - Southern and East Africa risk becoming more than just transit routes for illicit drugs, with the region increasingly emerging as a manufacturing hub -- and South Africa is at the centre of growing concern.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has warned of the proliferation of clandestine drug laboratories.
He hosted regional counterparts for a three-day Ministerial Troika Meeting of the Trilateral Planning Cell to strengthen cooperation against cross-border drug trafficking and transnational organised crime.
Porous borders and gaps in cross-border enforcement continue to provide opportunities for criminal networks.
The Trilateral Planning Cell, which now includes Angola and Uganda, aims to improve regional coordination and intelligence-sharing.
Authorities are also looking to establish a Regional Joint Centre for Narcotics and Crime.
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The challenge now is turning these commitments into action.
As criminal networks expand their operations across borders, authorities will need to demonstrate that stronger intelligence-sharing and regional cooperation can lead to joint operations, the dismantling of drug laboratories and the disruption of trafficking networks.
- eNCA’s Manqoba Mchunu reports.