UNODC chief launches new Caribbean regional programme

7 April 2014 - The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, today launched the UNODC Regional Programme in support of the Caribbean Community's (CARICOM) Crime and Security Strategy at an event held at the UN Headquarters in New York.

In his speech, Mr. Fedotov said: "The nexus between transnational organized criminal activities such as cocaine trafficking and illegal guns; gangs; cyber-crime; financial crime and corruption has been identified in the CARICOM Crime and Security Strategy as an immediate and significant threat."

Mr. Fedotov also echoed the concerns of regional Member States, noting that the Caribbean's geographical position provided the underpinning for some of the region's challenges due to its location "between major drug-producing countries in the south and major consumer markets in the north." For this reason, he said, the Caribbean "remained extremely vulnerable to the threats posed by illicit trafficking and organized crime."

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