Undersecretary of the ministry of interior, Lt Colonel Saif Abdullah Al Sha’far opened on Sunday the second Paris Pact technical group meeting on the financial flows linked to the illicit production and trafficking of Afghani opiates at Abu Dhabi Sheraton Hotel.
The two-day meeting hosted by the UAE in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime UNODC and the Government of the Russian Federation, brings together 35 government experts representing a total of 14 countries and international organizations.
The opening ceremony was attended by Major General Khamis bin Suwaif, Director General of Criminal Security, Dr. Hatim Fouad Ali, UNODC GCC chief and Lt Colonel Abdurrahman Al Owais, acting director of federal Narcotics Department at the Ministry of Interior.
Addressing the meeting in his inaugural speech, Al Sha’far extended to the participants the greetings of Lt. General H.H Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minster and Minster of Interior and his wishes for the success of the meeting.
Hosting this meeting is an indication of the belief of our higher leadership in the importance of mobilizing all international efforts to combat the financial flows linked with the illicit production and consumption of opium exported by countries of production, he said.
The United Arab Emirates is taking great interest in combating money laundering resulting from drugs trading and is proud of its efforts in this field, he added. It hosts UNODC Sub-Regional Office for the Gulf States in Abu Dhabi, to encourage the efforts made to confront the international criminal organizations, he noted.
The main purpose of this meeting is to assist the states becoming aware of the international anti narcotics related challenges, and provide them with technical support so as to confront the increasing wave of drug business, said Dr. Hatem Ali.
He thanked the UAE for hosting this global event which comprises high profile experts from the UN, international organizations and the countries taking part in the meeting.
Head of organized crime and money-laundering unit at UNODC in Vienna, Pierre Lapaque expressed his optimism about the possibility of setting future plans and concepts during the meeting that can be implemented in practice.
The first day of the meeting included two morning and evening sessions, the first one has dealt with Tashkent survey and a discussion on production and trafficking of Afghani opiates and methods of money flow into Afghanistan. The second session has discussed the future trends of the Paris Pact Group and the plans set to deal with the financial flows resulting from opium trade in Afghanistan and its implementation mechanism.