Special Police Interdicting Drugs ECOWAS Region (SPIDER)

To strengthen cooperation against transnational crime in West and North Africa, Strategic Capacity Group (SCG) designed and launched the Special Police Interdicting Drugs ECOWAS Region (SPIDER) at the request of the Malian and Nigerien governments, with funding and support from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The network included counternarcotics leaders from eight participating countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal, and engaged regional subject matter experts and international partners from multiple agencies, including the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Organization of Migration (IOM), United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). SPIDER improved cross-border communication, operational coordination, and intelligence-sharing, which was vital for disrupting and dismantling trafficking networks, countering regional “super labs,” and combatting growing linkages between organized crime and terrorist groups.