Arms smuggling in the Mediterranean
The Royal Gibraltar Police maritime patrols conducting a constant lookout in the western side of the Rocks shorelines.
9 May 2022
The implications for shipping and logistics of arms smuggling in the Mediterranean range from safety issues of inadvertently transporting potentially explosive materials, smuggling routes and actors involved, and other concerns - local as well as regional. Hans-Kristian Pedersen, Risk Intelligence’s Mediterranean and Black Sea analyst, provides a short brief and outlook.
By Hans-Kristian Pedersen, Mediterranean and Black Sea Analyst
The security risk implications of arms smuggling spans from the wider threats to regional and national security, to the narrower threats regarding localised and individual security. However, the issue goes beyond this.
There is also an impact on the logistics sectors which are affected by the operations of smuggling arms – illicit or otherwise. Additional concerns include the safety issue of inadvertently transporting potentially explosive materials and the possible dangers, to crew and vessel, or any other mode of transport.
In the Mediterranean there is a particular concern, as there are several smuggling routes and actors involved, including both state and non-sate actors, organized crime groups and politically motivated fractions – which all have various reasons and motivations for being involved in the smuggling of arms. Motivations can include financial and political gains, in the form of alliance building or for the sake influencing a desired outcome in a particular conflict – are all examples.
It must be noted that the smuggling operations which take place in the Mediterranean, may merely represent part of the overall journey of the smuggled arms, as they can be destined for use far from the Mediterranean itself. Failed states, frozen conflicts, and areas where lawlessness prevails are often recipients of arms smuggled illicitly, or otherwise engaged in such operations. Attempts to counter such operations include the recently announcing agreement, by the EU, on a new mission to monitor the UN-mandated arms embargo on Libya.
However, such missions, alone, are not enough as better control with national arms stock and production numbers and stockpiles all play a part in enabling a better knowledge of the tracking of weapons found to be smuggled. Add to that better sharing of information and coordination between law enforcement agencies and increased focus on countering corruption – which is also a significant factor, when regarding the possibilities of smuggling illicit goods, including arms.
The general outlook for cross-national collaboration and law enforcement structures, count-smuggling and counter-corruption operations, to the point where the incentives and the possibilities enabling or even encouraging attempt to smuggle arms remains unlikely to change significantly for the foreseeable future.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Get access to our webinar - Arms smuggling in the Eastern Mediterranean:
Our analysts Kais Makhlouf and Hans-Kristian Pedersen held the webinar on the 17th of May. Request access and gain insight into a business where the private and public sectors are not always distinguishable, and where profit is not always the goal.