Fostering Law Enforcement in the Minerals Sector
Paris, 3 May 2017. UNICRI, in partnership with OECD and INTERPOL, is organising a side event called Fostering Law Enforcement in the Minerals Sector to be held on the margins of the 2017 Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, on 3 May between 16.15 and 19.00, in Paris, France.
Through various studies, a clear link has been established between the trafficking of minerals and transnational organized crime. The crimes around this sector are committed in multiple jurisdictions and along the entire value chain, including criminal abuses of government documentation, tax fraud, forced labour, labelling fraud, corruption, and money laundering.
In order to address this issue, UNICRI, OECD and INTERPOL, building on their respective expertises, have developed a proposal entitled Project AUREUS, which intends to connect a range of governmental and non-governmental actors, including law enforcement, international organizations, and customs authorities, to improve the security and integrity of mineral supply chains and to explore ways to address criminal threats within the sector by facilitating investigative pursuits. Project AUREUS will focus on coordinating law enforcement investigative action at the strategic, operational and tactical level, to dismantle organized criminal networks involved in minerals supply chains. This law enforcement response will be complemented by research and policy design, as well as in consultation with the industry, private sector, and civil society, enabling better implementation of strategies in targeted regions.
At the side event, UNICRI, OECD, and INTERPOL will introduce Project AUREUS and consult with representatives of Government agencies, law enforcement agencies, the private sector and civil society to define an action plan for the project.