Malawi has called for a coordinated transnational fight to counter networks exploiting cross-border links with Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia to traffic people and drugs, launder money and facilitate illicit trade.
Minister of Homeland Security Peter Mukhito said this in Lilongwe yesterday during a multi-stakeholder workshop to develop Malawi’s National Strategy to Prevent and Combat Transnational Organised Crime.
He said criminals are exploiting the same cross-border connections that facilitate legitimate trade, investment and regional integration, with technological advancements making their operations increasingly sophisticated.
“Malawi’s borders with Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia are gateways to trade, opportunity and regional integration. Yet criminal networks exploit these same connections for human trafficking, illicit trade, drug trafficking, financial crime and other unlawful activities,” said Mukhito.
He noted that fragmented institutions and poor intelligence sharing are undermining efforts to tackle interconnected criminal networks, singling out human trafficking as a particularly disturbing threat, because unsuspecting people, especially women and children, are lured by false promises of employment and better opportunities before falling victim to traffickers.
Mukhito said technological advancements are making criminal operations more sophisticated, requiring security agencies to adopt coordinated and intelligence-led approaches.
In his remarks, Inspector General of Police Richard Luhanga said the threat extends beyond human and drug trafficking to include migrant smuggling, illicit financial flows, money laundering, cybercrime, firearms trafficking, wildlife and environmental crimes and corruption.
He warned that these activities threaten national security, undermined economic development and weaken public institutions.
The workshop has brought together government departments, security agencies, development partners and regional and international organisations, including the Southern African Development Community Secretariat, Interpol Regional Bureau Harare and the Institute for Security Studies, to develop a framework for tackling transnational organised crime.
