Joint Press release – COBRA initiative enhances partnership in fighting transnational wildlife crime

Nairobi, Kenya; 14th September 2015: A three-day multi-agency workshop titled “Post COBRA III Operational Review and Training Workshop” was successfully concluded on 4th September 2015 in Arusha, Tanzania. The workshop brought together 42 participants mainly national and international coordinators of the global Operation COBRA III drawn from African and Asian countries as well as governmental/intergovernmental organizations. The participating countries comprised Botswana, Congo (Brazzaville), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and four (4) Asian countries namely Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The organizations included Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora; and Association of South East Asia Nations – Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) Law Enforcement Extension Office, National and Transnational Serious Crime Investigation Unit of Tanzania, US Fish and Wildlife Service, USAID, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, World Customs Organization- Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Eastern and Southern Africa (WCO-RILO ESA) and TRAFFIC.

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