(AGENPARL) – mer 05 luglio 2023 5 July 2023
Americas: New joint initiative against human trafficking and
migrant smuggling
Under Project Turquesa, INTERPOL and the UNODC will streamline efforts against the
organized crime groups profiting from irregular migration and exploitation.
LYON, France – INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have announced the
launch of a new project designed to fight migrant smuggling and human trafficking in the Americas.
Based on the successful model of previous INTERPOL-led operations, Project Turquesa will leverage the
strengths of both organizations to ensure a whole-of-justice approach to migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
With organized crime groups earning billions of dollars from their operations, Latin American and Caribbean
countries serve as territories of origin, transit and destinations for these crimes.
Given that human trafficking and migrant smuggling are highly gendered crimes that affect men, women,
and children differently, gender considerations will be mainstreamed throughout the project. Furthermore,
particular attention will be paid to ensuring full respect for the rights of smuggled migrants and victims of trafficking.
Filling the gaps
A lack of reliable data coupled with a need for increased cooperation between investigators and prosecutors
has hampered the ability to effectively address these crimes, both in the Americas and worldwide. UNODC’s 2022
Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, for example, noted that the number of convictions for trafficking in persons
(TIP) fell an alarming 27 per cent in 2020 over the previous year.
To address this, Project Turquesa will provide research as well as operational and strategic analysis to
improve understanding of the routes, trends, and modus operandi of migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons
in Latin America and Caribbean countries. Training and operational justice plans will be provided to both
prosecutors and law enforcement officers to help build their capacity to investigate the often closely related crimes.
Technical support to existing cross-regional networks and tools, meanwhile, will help increase capacity of
investigators and prosecutors in beneficiary countries to cooperate at the national and regional levels.
“INTERPOL’s four Turquesa operations have led to nearly 800 arrests, the identification of thousands of
victims, and 270 new investigations. Strong cooperation with the UNODC during these actions provided a clear
springboard for this joint initiative, and we look forward to safeguarding vulnerable communities together,” said
INTERPOL’s Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
“UNODC is proud to join this collaborative effort to end human trafficking and migrant smuggling,” said
Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC. “Across Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond, we are providing
valuable technical assistance and capacity-building to enhance law enforcement responses, dismantle trafficking
networks, and ensure justice for victims. By joining forces with INTERPOL through Project Turquesa, we can take
this support to the next level, by ensuring a coordinated, global response to these transnational challenges and
leave no one behind.”
Project Turquesa is a two-and-a-half-year initiative funded by the Government of Canada through its AntiCrime Capacity Building Programme.
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