In Mozambique, investigators building a case against suspected transnational human traffickers had what should have been decisive evidence: CCTV footage of the suspects. However, the images were too poor in quality to be admissible in court.
Not long ago, the case might have stalled there.
Criminal networks increasingly operate across national borders. Human traffickers, smugglers and illicit financial networks exploit legal and procedural differences between jurisdictions and the difficulties authorities face in exchanging information and evidence. In the 2025 Global Organized Crime Index, East Africa recorded the highest criminality score of any region on the continent, driven largely by human trafficking and smuggling.
Tackling these crimes therefore requires more than strong institutions within individual countries. Investigators and prosecutors need to be able to work across borders.
From 2022 to 2025, with funding from the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, IDLO worked with criminal justice institutions in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique through the East Africa Transnational Organized Crime (EATOC) project to strengthen these connections. In addition to building the skills for 184 specialist justice professionals, several of whom went on to become trainers themselves, the project brought investigators and prosecutors from the three countries together to build relationships and practical channels for cooperation.
Justice officials who participated in the programme found that the networks formed through the programme enabled quicker follow-ups, more direct communication, better investigations and smoother facilitation of formal requests for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA). Those connections proved critical for the stalled trafficking case in Mozambique. Thanks to a new MLA agreement in criminal matters between Kenya and Mozambique, signed in 2025 and facilitated in part by networks, investigators were able to use advanced video analysis technology in Kenya to examine the footage, making it admissible in court and ultimately strengthening the prosecution's case against the traffickers.
Now, instead of starting from scratch when a case crosses a border, officials increasingly know who can help on the other side. One senior justice official explained that, after meeting counterparts through the project, he could obtain clarifications within hours instead of weeks. “Thanks to EATOC, now I know exactly whom to contact in SERNIC [Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service] or at the immigration services when a case requires joint action.
These improvements are part of a wider regional push against organized crime powered by improvements in the rule of law. Between 2022 and 2025, the number of cases investigated by Tanzania doubled, from 839 to 1,687. Mozambique has put strengthened safeguards against illicit finance contributing to its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's "grey list" in late 2025.
More work remains in connecting justice systems, including bridging linguistic divides and strengthening witness protection so that testimony can safely cross borders along with the evidence. Addressing these gaps will be essential to sustaining and expanding regional cooperation against transnational organized crime.
The EATOC experience demonstrates that that by strengthening legal cooperation frameworks, institutional capacities and building cross-border partnerships, countries can build more effective responses to organized crime, ensuring that regional security and stability is powered by the rule of law.