The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union (EU) have launched a five-day intensive training at Banjul International Airport to enhance personnel capacity in identifying high-risk air passengers and combating illicit drug trafficking.
Running from March 24 to 28, 2025, the program focuses on intelligence-based passenger profiling, behavioral analysis, and interagency coordination to disrupt transnational drug syndicates.
Trainers from UNODC and Nigeria’s Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF) are sharing expert techniques.
Since 2020, Gambia’s JAITF has seized 200 kg of drugs, including a recent MDMA interception. Raphael Brigandi, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Gambia, emphasized that targeting high-risk passengers has dismantled trafficking networks, citing successes in Brussels.
The EU has supported JAITF since 2014 through its global initiative against illicit flows, deployed in 41 airports worldwide. With West Africa a prime trafficking route, Brigandi stressed that Gambia must strengthen its position as a regional security hub.