By Omar Bah
Gambian security forces have intercepted 74 stolen motor vehicles during a two-week border operation around Banjul, after running more than 13,000 checks against Interpol databases.
The joint deployment brought together officers from immigration, police, customs, prisons and The Gambia’s Interpol National Central Bureau. Using mobile devices linked directly to Interpol systems, teams screened travellers and vehicles for links to terrorism, drug trafficking and human trafficking at key entry points.
According to Interpol, officers conducted 13,000 database queries, including 748 biometric searches through the Interpol Biometric Hub. The checks resulted in the flagging of 74 stolen vehicles, underscoring the scale of cross-border vehicle theft networks targeting the region.
The operation was carried out under Project Identity, which provides training, technical support and equipment to help Interpol member countries use international police databases in real time at frontline posts.
“The coordinated checks aimed at intercepting wanted individuals and illicit goods at key locations around Banjul,” Interpol noted in a statement. The statement didn’t give further details on arrests or follow-up investigations.
Vehicle theft and transnational crime have long exploited West Africa’s porous borders, with stolen cars often trafficked between countries and sold with forged documents. For years, Gambian authorities relied on manual checks and paper records.
But since joining Project Identity, The Gambia has equipped frontline officers with mobile tools that give instant access to Interpol’s databases on stolen vehicles, lost travel documents, wanted persons and fingerprints.
The 74 vehicles flagged in this sweep represent one of the largest single-operation recoveries announced by Gambian authorities in recent years. The 13,000 queries also mark a significant jump in the use of real-time data by local officers.
Security analysts say the results highlight a broader shift in West African border control, where countries are moving away from reactive policing toward intelligence-led screening backed by global databases.
For The Gambia, a small country with busy land and sea entry points around Banjul, the ability to check identities and vehicles against 196 countries in seconds is seen as critical to tackling organised crime.