ESG: European Surveillance Group on the Fight against Firearm Trafficking in Europe / ESG FIREARMS

ended

The European Surveillance Group (ESG) is an informal network of covert surveillance (CS) authorities, experts and senior operational managers that aim to professionalize cross-border CS capacity in all EU-MS and connected third party countries. ESG´s action aims to enhance operational cooperation between its members and the CS-experts from east and south-east Europe, located along the Firearms Trafficking (FT) routes. Moreover, ESG enhances this cooperation also with international partners from, amongst others, middle east by facilitating joint initiatives and operational actions against FT. ESG will promote networking, built mutual confidence, update its annual CS Threat Assessment and share good practice and innovative approaches through operational meetings. Expert training, workshops and cross border exercises will deliver a toolkit of enhanced standards on tactical surveillance performance for all EU-MS, including de development of new methods and deployment of the latest technical equipment to collect intelligence and evidence. This will allow CS operatives to improve expertise in the area of firearms trafficking and to disseminate best practices on gathering relevant information and intelligence about FT routes to and from the EU. International cooperation will increase the CS proficiency. CS allows to evidence OCG´s meetings, identify members and new FT routes and methods, locate depots, expose networks. These operations have a massive impact on the reduction of diversion of firearms into criminal hands in the EU. Activities to increase CS capabilities are key to enable EU CS authorities, managers and practitioners to cope with new modus operandi used by poly-criminal OCG’s on short term. Delivery in these areas will enhance existing CS capabilities, which will benefit investigation and prosecution against OCG’s dealing with FT on medium term. Every EU citizen will, in the long term, be safer by a reduction of the firearms supply.