On 10 February 2026, more than 200 participants from Member States, partner international and regional organizations, academia and civil society attended the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate¡¯s (CTED) technical meeting to brief Member States on the latest issues, trends and developments on the multifaceted linkages between terrorism and organized crime. The event, held at United Nations Headquarters, focused on identifying threats, responses, and potential synergies between West Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
The meeting was organized in accordance with Security Council resolution 2482 (2019), which requests CTED to integrate considerations of the linkages between terrorism and organized crime into its assessments and analyses. Opening the session, Ms. Carmen G. Cantor, Deputy Executive Director of CTED, underscored that while terrorism and organized crime remain distinct phenomena, they increasingly "cooperate and coexist," learning from each other's tactics to maintain territorial control and influence political actions.
¡°In terms of terrorist financing, terrorists are opportunistic and highly adaptive to the conditions in which they operate,¡± Ms. Cantor stated. ¡°Where such linkages exist, their scale and form vary considerably depending on regional and economic context, prevalent criminal activity, proximity to smuggling routes, and the degree of access terrorists may have to exploitable resources.¡±
Panelists included experts from international and regional organizations, academia, and civil society. The first session, moderated by Mr. Marc Porret, Acting Chief of CTED¡¯s Africa Section, explored the scale and nature of these linkages. Mr. Jorge Lasmar (PUC Minas), Mr. Celestin Delanga (Institute for Security Studies), and Mr. Antonio Luzzi (UNODC) examined how criminal activities¡ªranging from the trafficking of natural resources and drugs to kidnapping for ransom and online fraud¡ªvary across the three regions.
Ms. Cantor highlighted that CTED has observed "growing linkages between Latin American drug cartels, other transnational criminal networks, and terrorist groups in Africa," stressing the need for strengthened coordination between authorities in both regions.
A second session, moderated by Ms. Elizabeth Joyce, Chief of CTED¡¯s Americas and Asia-Pacific Section, provided a cross-regional analysis of responses to these threats. Speakers from the Organization of American States (OAS-CICTE), CARICOM IMPACS, the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering (GIABA), and UNICRI highlighted region-specific strategies and opportunities for enhanced cross-border investigations.
Throughout the discussions, speakers emphasized the importance of maintaining clear legal and operational distinctions between the two phenomena. Ms. Cantor noted that understanding these differences ensures that responses are "adequate, proportional, fit-for-purpose and respectful of human rights and due process guarantees."
CTED elaborated on its recent engagement with Member States, noting that since the adoption of resolution 2482 (2019), the Directorate has conducted five assessment visits to West Africa and three to Latin America and the Caribbean, with more assessments planned in the three regions in 2026. During these visits, CTED identified key vulnerabilities, including gaps in using financial intelligence and challenges in reflecting context-specific linkages in national counter-terrorism strategies. Ms. Cantor stressed the need for strengthened coordination between authorities in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa to combat "growing linkages between drug cartels, other transnational criminal networks, and terrorist groups¡±, which Member States in both sub-regions are increasingly reporting to CTED.
In her concluding remarks, Ms. Cantor emphasized the need for continued capacity-building, coordination, and cooperation at all levels¡ªand sustained research to monitor current and emerging trends and proactively disrupt current and potential linkages.