On 18/05/2023, the Executive Director of MAOC-N received the Minister for Security of the UK, Tom Tugendhat, at the Centre’s headquarters in Lisbon.
Minister Tugendhat, who was accompanied by his Private Secretary and by the Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Lisbon Ross Matthews, was briefed on some of the Centre’s operations with a particular focus on the vulnerabilities of the Gulf of Guinea and the consequent emergence of new maritime drug trafficking routes and criminal activity hubs in that area.
As one of the founding countries, the UK has been a key strategic partner of MAOC-N since its inception in 2007, having contributed with valuable intelligence in maritime operations coordinated through the Centre and facilitating international cooperation in the context of maritime drug trafficking.
