From 16 to 19 June 2025, the Annual meeting of EL PAcCTO 2.0 took place in Lima, Peru, dedicated to the challenges, opportunities and achievements of the project. In four panel discussions, the participants looked at the challenges posed by the new modalities of and the new responses to organised crime, how to defend legality and democratic values in the face of organised crime and the coordinated regional strategies against organised crime. Hugh Dockry represented the EJN and moderated on the opening day the High Level panel on defending legality and democratic values in the face of organised crime. The panel included Mr. Orlando Aguirre Gómez, President of the Supreme Court of Costa Rica, Ms Luz Adriana Camargo, General Prosecutor of Colombia, Ms. Margarita Šniutytė-Daugėlienė, Vice-President of Eurojust and Ms. Gabriela Valverde Gómez, Vice-Minister of Interior of Uruguay.
On the second day, thematic sessions on justice and security took place, focussed on, amongst other matters:
- Tools for a better administration of justice and prosecution of organised crime;
- Enabling legal framework, capacity building and Joint Investigation Teams;
- Links between organised crime, infiltration, money laundering and corruption; as well as
- EU-LAC (Latin American Countries) synergies in the field of justice, for which the Secretary was a panel member.
On the third and fourth day, strategic meetings of Cooperation Networks, Caribbean Partners and Latin American Focal Points were set up, zooming in on the impact of drug trafficking on criminal networks, routes and markets, on the Caribbean region as a key player in organised crime globally, on the new trends in organised crime, and on the coordinated responses between Latin America and the Caribbean.
The whole conference offered the EJN an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of the EJN in Latin America and the Caribbean, for networking and enhancing partnership with the Caribbean region in its global fight against cross-border international crimes.