Transnational Crime Unit Launched

PRESS RELEASE
Monrovia, July 18, 2011: The Transnational Crime Unit (TCU) has officially been launched with offices at the Headquarters of the Liberia National Police. The Unit was launched last Thursday, July 14, 2011 during its first meeting in Monrovia.

The TCU comprises of five law enforcement agencies including the Liberia National Police, National Security Agency, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, Bureau of Customs and Excise and Drug Enforcement Agency.

According to an LNP release, the objective of the TCU is to address drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking and other transnational criminal matters amongst Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Liberia.

 This unit was formed as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the five law enforcement agencies and UNODC in May 2011.

The Liberian government through the Ministry of Justice and in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) has established the TCU within the framework of West Africa Coast Initiative (WACI).  

The establishment of TCU is an operational response to both the ECOWAS Regional Action Plan on Illicit Trafficking and Organized Crimes 2008-2011 and the Freetown Commitment on Combating Illicit Trafficking of Drugs and Transnational Crime signed on 17 February 2010.

The release further indicated that the TCU is a national inter-agency unit which is manned with staff from national law enforcement agencies, trained and equipped to fight transnational crime.