EME: A new way to fight organised crime

As a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, organised crime requires coordination of the institutions responsible for pursuing it, as well as improvements in the organisation of those working in the penal chain. 

With this objective, EL PAcCTO, a programme financed by the European Union and managed by the FIIAPP and Expertise France, in collaboration with the Italo-Latin American Institute and the Camões Institute of Portugal, plans to support the creation of 9 operational Specialised Multidisciplinary Teams(EMEs) in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. 

The EMEs are based on the union of efforts and specialised personnel of the institutions involved in the fight against organised crime in general or in a particular crime. These fully operational teams will be composed of agents from at least two institutions (usually police and public prosecutors) and, where appropriate, experts from other institutions. 

The members of the team will have the facility to coordinate and will become progressively specialised. Although these teams are of a national nature, they also interrelate with equivalent teams in other countries to facilitate international cooperation. 

The 9 EMEs will be established in Bolivia and Ecuador in the fight against human trafficking; in Panama and Peru in the fight against environmental crimes; in Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay on financial crimes especially asset laundering; in Paraguay, to strengthen prison intelligence; and in Mexico, for the protection of human rights, the fight against impunity and the investigation of missing persons. The process of accompanying the creation of the EMEs has already begun in Colombia and Peru and by the end of the year the teams are expected to be operational.