ASEANAPOL in partnership with FREELAND (an international NGO that supports frontline organizations working for a world free of wildlife trafficking and human slavery) and funded by USDS INL conducted a joint round table meeting entitled: TRIPOD II (Targeting Regional Investigations and Policing Opportunities for Development II) that took place in Hatyai, Thailand on January 29, 2024.
The meeting was participated 11 Thailand frontline agencies, namely: Songkhla Provincial Police, Marine Police, Border Patrol Police (BPP), Royal Thai Police Natural Resources, Immigration Police, Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NED), Department of National Parks (DNP), Thai Customs, Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), Prosecutor, and Revenue Department (RD).
Participating agencies discussed the issues and challenges, opportunities, efficient interagency and cross-border collaboration, and strategies to combat wildlife trafficking and the border area. Input was gathered from various agencies to design the Counter Transnational Organized Crime (C-TOC) capacity-building program and Special Investigation Group (SIG) meetings (scheduled for future quarters of this project) to address these challenges and opportunities.
ASEANAPOL’s Director of Police Services ACP Dr. Bakri Zainal Abidin and ASP Engku Nurul ‘Aini Engku Malek, Plans and Programs Officer II represented the Secretariat. Dr. Bakri read the message of ASEANAPOL Executive Director David Martinez Vinluan. In his message, among others, the Executive Director expressed the need to “call to action” to take an aggressive stance against the perpetration of Transnational Organized Crimes affecting the region. In the end analysis, ED Vinluan expressed: “…together as members of ASEAN…. let us do this to ensure the protection of our children’s children future and ensure that the future generations will have a safer place to Live, to Work and to do business…”.
“Together We Keep This Region Safe”