The RRAG is a network of latin american financial action task force (GAFILAT), an organization of member whose objective is to facilitate the identification and localization, with a view to recovery, of assets that are the proceeds or instruments of illicit activities, including drug trafficking. It is currently made up of the 17 GAFILAT member countries, in addition to Andorra, Spain, Italy, El Salvador, France and EUROPOL. The RRAG has 48 contact points from 22 countries belonging to prosecutors’ offices, police, FIU and other law enforcement authorities.
This network was created at the end of 2009 with the initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and with the support of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, and now its Department against Transnational Organized Crime (DDOT) of the Organization of American States (CICAD/OAS), INTERPOL and the Executive Secretariat of the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT).
On behalf of COPOLAD III, the RRAG meeting was attended by program technician Massimo Meccheri and Colonel Paolo Brucato of the Italian Guardia di Finanza, the program’s expert on drug trafficking and money laundering. The COPOLAD programa is drawning up a roadmap and collaboration between the two bodies, which is currently being analysed.The objective of the mission was to identify strategic lines of work for the participation of the RRAG in the group on asset recovery within the framework of component 3 of the Program, under the responsibility of IILA.
The objective of the meeting was for the RRAG contact points to exchange experiences and discuss common challenges on strategic issues to ensure the sustainability of the network in the future. In addition to discussing possible strategies to strengthen the RRAG and to improve collaboration with other Asset Recovery Interagency Networks (ARINs) and other international organisations.
During the meeting, the importance of continuing to strengthen the international cooperation of the contact points not only within the ARIN, but also with other regional networks was reiterated. In addition, the need to develop more technical assistance products in order to improve and increase the capacities of the points of contact to fulfil the objectives of the Network in the identification and tracing of assets, products or instruments of illicit activities was highlighted.
This network was created at the end of 2009 with the initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and with the support of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, and now its Department against Transnational Organized Crime (DDOT) of the Organization of American States (CICAD/OAS), INTERPOL and the Executive Secretariat of the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT).
