Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and partners ran a practical train-the-trainer workshop in Genoa on 23 October to help officers detect hidden compartments used by criminal networks to move illicit goods such as drugs, firearms and stolen items. The training was followed by two days of coordinated checks at the Port of Genoa.
The activities took place under EMPACT, the EU platform that brings together police, customs and EU bodies to tackle Europe’s most serious criminal threats through shared priorities, training and joint operations. As part of this work, Frontex regularly joins EMPACT Joint Action Days, which bring together national authorities, EU agencies and international organisations to target serious and organised crime across Europe.
Representatives from 14 EU and non-EU countries took part: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and INTERPOL also participated. Co-organisers were the OSCE, the Belgian Federal Police and Italy’s Polizia di Frontiera.
The workshop mixed short briefings on concealment methods, risk indicators and search techniques with hands-on drills using modified vehicles previously seized in smuggling cases. Classroom sessions were hosted by Italian Customs in Genoa.
The operational phase took place during Cross-Border Crime Action Days on 24–25 October, with joint checks at the Port of Genoa focused on ferry routes linking Genoa with Tunis (Tunisia) and Tangier (Morocco). During the checks, officers identified a 2022 Hyundai Tucson reported stolen in France; the Guardia di Finanza arrested a suspect and impounded the vehicle.
