A regular meeting of the ARIN networks on the return of criminal assets was held

A representative of the Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, responsible for coordinating the Secretariat of the Interagency Network on Asset Recovery in Western and Central Asia (ARIN-WCA), participated in the 11th meeting of representatives of the secretariats and chairing countries of regional informal asset recovery networks (ARIN), organized by the CARIN Secretariat (Europol).

The meeting was attended by representatives from the chairing bodies and secretariats of all currently active ARIN networks (CARIN, ARIN-AP, ARIN-CARIB, ARIN-EA, ARIN-SA, RRAG, ARIN-WCA, MENA-ARIN, ARIN-CA), as well as officials and experts from the Europol Financial Intelligence Public-Private Partnership (EFIPP), the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC), the Asset Recovery Project (AR), the Terrorist Financing Tracking Program (TFTP), the European Commission, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), the Latvian Asset Recovery Office, and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Participants acknowledged the role of informal asset recovery networks as an essential component in the fight against organized crime and discussed ways to enhance operational effectiveness, the relevance of active international cooperation in asset recovery, the expansion of participating countries for more effective collaboration and joint problem-solving, the identification of priority tasks and areas, the establishment and strengthening of professional contacts, and the importance of sharing new knowledge and experience in this field.

During the meeting, a proposal was also made to consider granting ARIN-WCA observer status in the newly established ARIN-CA (Central Africa) and MENA-ARIN (Middle East and North Africa) networks. This would broaden the geographic scope of ARIN-WCA’s engagement with jurisdictions in the Middle East, Central, and North Africa.

As a result of the meeting, participants identified current topics for future discussions and expressed their willingness to engage in active cooperation and further development of relations within the ARIN framework.