Gambiaj.com – (Banjul, The Gambia) – Gambian law enforcement authorities have joined an intensive international police operation that has resulted in the detection of approximately 150 stolen vehicles across West Africa, as part of a broader crackdown on transnational vehicle trafficking coordinated by INTERPOL.

Codenamed Operation Safe Wheels, the two-week campaign conducted in March 2025 involved security agencies from 12 West African countries, including The Gambia, and led to the seizure of more than 75 stolen vehicles. The operation, according to INTERPOL, also sparked 18 new investigations and exposed the activities of at least two organized crime groups operating in the region.

In The Gambia, police and border security forces were among those who mounted daily checkpoints to inspect vehicles using INTERPOL’s Stolen Motor Vehicle (SMV) database—a powerful tool that allows authorities to instantly determine if a vehicle has been reported stolen anywhere in INTERPOL’s 196 member countries.

The SMV database was instrumental in the operation, revealing that most of the stolen vehicles had been trafficked from Canada, while others originated from European countries such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Gambian authorities played a key role in these inspections, contributing to the broader regional effort to intercept vehicles suspected to have been smuggled into the country through porous borders or forged documents.

“This operation demonstrates The Gambia’s growing commitment to tackling transnational organized crime and protecting its borders from becoming transit routes for illicit goods,” said a senior police official in Banjul familiar with the operation.

Across the 12 participating countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo—an average of 46 checkpoints were established each day, and over 12,600 vehicles were screened during the operation.

Globally, INTERPOL’s SMV database helped identify approximately 270,000 stolen vehicles in 2024 alone, highlighting the persistent nature of vehicle trafficking as a lucrative activity for organized crime networks. The success of Operation Safe Wheels has prompted renewed calls for greater international cooperation, data sharing, and capacity building in forensic vehicle identification.

Gambian authorities say they are committed to following up on leads uncovered during the operation and strengthening border controls and inter-agency collaboration to disrupt future trafficking attempts.

The operation also marks a significant step in international law enforcement collaboration, signaling a unified regional front in confronting crimes that often transcend national jurisdictions.

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