On July 2nd, 2024, MAOC-N hosted the official Accession Ceremony of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Federal Republic of Germany to the Centre. The ceremony was held at the Portuguese Judicial Police (PJ) Headquarters, in Lisbon, and was honored by the presence of The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson.
The event, which kicked off in the afternoon of a very sunny day in Lisbon with welcome speeches by the PJ National director Luís Neves and by MAOC-N Executive Director Sjoerd Top, was also attended by the Portuguese Minister of Justice, Rita Júdice, the Commissioner-General of the Belgian Federal Police, Eric Snoeck, the Director General for Public Security and German Ministry of the Interior and Community, Christian Klos, who spoke to the audience about the importance of intelligence sharing and operational coordination within the framework of MAOC-N to face the challenges posed by transnational drug trafficking.
The signature of the official document of accession, which was live streamed by the European Commission, was then followed by a press conference for journalists.
With this accession, Belgium and Germany now join France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States in a united front against drug trafficking in the Atlantic and Mediterranean maritime and air domains.
MAOC-N has been, since its inception in 2007, playing a pivotal role in disrupting and dismantling transnational organised crime networks engaged in drug trafficking. The addition of Belgium and Germany as partner countries further strengthens MAOC-N’s ability to tackle transatlantic drug smuggling and reflects the strategy of both countries to effectively intertwine the work of federal security agencies with European and international partners.
