The increasingly transnational nature of crime means that effective crime prevention requires sound collaboration and effective cooperation mechanisms at the international level. In the spirit of the “Globally Networked Customs” initiative, the WCO has established an “Information and Intelligence Centre (I2C)” at its HQ to facilitate communication and coordination on Customs cooperation and enforcement-related matters.

The I2C operates under the auspices of the WCO Compliance and Enforcement Sub-Directorate and aims to facilitate the following objectives:

• Enable better operational law enforcement coordination at the international level
  The I2C can assist WCO Members by helping them contact the relevant contact points in another Customs administration. The I2C can also help provide Customs administrations with access to the Regional Liaison Office (RILO) Network’s Global Rapid Alert Network (GRAN). More information about GRAN can be found here: Gran Leaflet. Similarly, if there is an alert you wish to share with other Customs administrations please contact the I2C, and we will make sure your alert is shared through the appropriate channels.


• Provide Members with a help-desk function/interface for law enforcement subjects at international level
  Should you need consultation or help with any enforcement matter, contact us and we will do our best to see what we can do to help you.


• Collect and distribute open source intelligence and other non-restricted Customs-related intelligence to Members on a regular basis
  In addition to delivering an intelligence report once a year in the form of the WCO Illicit Trade Report, we regularly distribute an open source Intelligence Bulletin which contains an overview of relevant Customs-related news and seizure information. The Intelligence Bulletin is available in both English and French. If you wish to be added to the mailing list for the Intelligence Bulletin, please contact the I2C using the contact details below.


• Support/co-host WCO law enforcement operations
  The I2C provides intelligence and operational coordination support for the WCO’s global operations across the five key Customs risk areas.


• Conduct searches in global law enforcement databases on behalf of Customs administrations.
  The WCO has been granted access to several INTERPOL databases, including INTERPOL’s Stolen Motor Vehicle (SMV) Database and its Illicit Arms Records and tracing Management System (iARMS) database; the WCO also has access to INTERPOL’s firearms identification reference material via the INTERPOL Firearms Reference Table (IFRT). If your administration would like to verify whether a vehicle or firearm which requires further investigation is listed in one of these databases, please contact the I2C and we will search the appropriate database to check whether the vehicle or firearm is listed there.


• Respond to and process requests for WCO data.
  If you are interested in obtaining access to WCO data for analytical purposes, please contact the I2C for more information.