The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has mobilized Customs intelligence officials from 24 African countries to strengthen regional cooperation against transnational crime, as authorities warn that criminal networks are increasingly exploiting weak border controls and intelligence gaps to facilitate smuggling, illicit trade and other cross-border offences.
The initiative is taking place as Liberia hosts the 17th Annual Joint Meeting of National Contact Points (NCPs) of the World Customs Organization’s (WCO) Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILO) for West and Central Africa, bringing together more than 40 Customs intelligence professionals at the Farmington Hotel in Margibi County.
The five-day meeting, which opened Monday, November 2, 2026, is being hosted by the Government of Liberia through the LRA’s Department of Customs. It marks the first time Liberia has hosted the regional gathering.
Held under the theme, “Intelligence and Regional Cooperation in the Service of a Vigilant and Committed Customs Administration for the Protection of Society,” the meeting is intended to strengthen intelligence exchange, improve coordinated enforcement, protect government revenue and facilitate legitimate trade across the region.
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Opening the meeting, Commissioner of Customs Saa Saamoi called for stronger regional intelligence sharing and coordinated border enforcement, warning that criminal networks are taking advantage of weaknesses in national border management systems and delays in information exchange.
Saamoi said Customs administrations across the world face similar pressures, with governments demanding increased revenue collection and stronger action against smuggling, while businesses expect faster cargo clearance, fewer interventions and lower transaction costs.
He noted that expanding international trade, increasingly connected supply chains, e-commerce and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, are changing the operating environment for Customs authorities. At the same time, criminal networks are becoming more sophisticated in exploiting weaknesses in enforcement systems.
According to him, fraudulent practices include cargo misdescription, undervaluation, origin fraud, document falsification, concealment of prohibited goods and diversion of goods in transit.
“We must make faster clearance decisions without compromising our controls. We must reduce unnecessary physical examinations while improving our ability to identify high-risk consignments,” Saamoi said, emphasizing the importance of intelligence-led enforcement in facilitating legitimate trade while protecting national borders.
He stressed that the effectiveness of regional intelligence cooperation should be measured by practical operational results rather than the volume of information exchanged.
“Intelligence collected but not analyzed has limited value. Intelligence analyzed but not shared in a timely manner loses its operational relevance,” he stated.
Saamoi urged National Contact Points to serve as active operational links among national intelligence units, risk management structures, frontline Customs officers and their counterparts across the region.
He also called for greater use of the WCO Customs Enforcement Network (CEN), CENcomm and other intelligence-sharing platforms, while encouraging countries to improve the quality and consistency of enforcement reporting.
“Our borders may separate our national jurisdictions, but they do not separate the criminal networks that exploit them,” he said.
Amandu Tejan Sesay, Director General of RILO West Africa, thanked the LRA and its Department of Customs for hosting the meeting, describing the gathering as an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation among Customs administrations.
Sesay publicly commended a Liberian Customs official for his quality work and contribution to the regional network, saying his efforts had brought recognition to the Authority.
He noted that Customs seizures involving narcotic drugs, falsified medicines and protected wildlife are not merely enforcement statistics but important interventions that help protect society.
He explained that when intelligence is shared and seizures are connected across borders, authorities can better identify trafficking routes, criminal networks and the individuals behind illicit activities.
Sesay emphasized that National Contact Points must gather, assess, enrich and share intelligence with the relevant agencies capable of taking action. They must also report enforcement outcomes to strengthen the regional intelligence network.
He said delegates would review recommendations from the previous meeting in Bamako, Mali, and discuss data quality, intelligence exchange, the use of CEN and CENcomm, and experiences from national and regional operations.
He urged participants to ensure that the meeting produces realistic recommendations, clearly assigned responsibilities and effective follow-up mechanisms.
In a statement delivered on behalf of the Vice-Chair of the WCO West and Central Africa Region, Ibrahim Njoya stressed that effective Customs administrations must anticipate threats, identify emerging trafficking methods and share intelligence promptly to enable coordinated responses.
Njoya recalled that the 2025 meeting in Bamako recommended increased use of geospatial intelligence, open-source intelligence, artificial intelligence and tracking and tracing technologies to improve intelligence gathering and enforcement operations.
He said the previous meeting also called for continued evaluation of intelligence frameworks and sustained capacity building among Customs administrations.
Njoya commended the LRA for involving other Liberian security and enforcement institutions in the gathering, describing inter-agency participation as important to strengthening national and regional responses to transnational crime.
He disclosed that 17 of the 24 administrations participated in CRIFAX 11 and urged broader participation in future joint operations to improve the effectiveness of regional intelligence cooperation.
Delivering remarks on behalf of the Government of Liberia and the Joint Security, Prince B. Mulbah, Deputy Director General of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), warned that transnational criminal activities are increasingly interconnected and require a coordinated response from all security institutions.
He identified the trafficking of kush and tramadol, illicit financial flows, arms and ammunition smuggling, counterfeit pharmaceuticals and environmental crimes as serious threats that cannot be effectively addressed by Customs authorities working alone.
Mulbah said Customs intelligence must be shared with other security institutions to ensure that information gathered at border points and through regional networks leads to coordinated investigations and enforcement operations.
He identified Liberia’s Joint Security institutions, including the Liberia National Police, Liberia Immigration Service, LDEA, Armed Forces of Liberia, National Security Agency, Liberia Customs and the Presidential Task Force on Illicit Mining, as essential partners in the fight against transnational crime.
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He pledged that these institutions would work to break down information-sharing barriers and act jointly on intelligence received through the RILO network.
Mulbah called for a shift from simply counting seizures to identifying and dismantling the criminal masterminds, financial networks and logistical systems behind illicit activities.
He also highlighted persistent challenges, including porous borders, limited forensic laboratory capacity, delayed intelligence sharing and corruption, stressing the need for trained, disciplined and ethical security personnel.
Emphasizing the importance of inter-agency cooperation, he said: “The sources of Customs are the sources of the Police. The sources of the Police are the sources of the Drug Enforcement Agency. The sources of Drug Enforcement are the sources of our nations.”
The meeting has brought together representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
The RILO network forms part of the WCO’s global Customs intelligence framework, providing a platform for intelligence exchange, risk analysis, operational coordination and capacity building among member administrations. Africa has RILO structures serving West Africa, Central Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa.