On 12 February 2024, the ARIEN project was presented by the Project Coordinator during an event organised by the Pan-European Network of Customs Practitioners (PEN-CP), an initiative funded under the EU Horizon programme that connects customs and security practitioners across Europe.

During the session, the coordinator provided an overview of the ARIEN project, its objectives, and its contribution to strengthening the fight against illicit drug production and trafficking through advanced technological solutions.

The presentation a highlighted the multidisciplinary nature of the ARIEN consortium, including research organisations, universities, SMEs, law enforcement agencies, and judicial authorities working together to address the complex challenges of drug trafficking.

ARIEN will develop innovative AI-based capabilities, including automated techniques to discover illicit drug markets online, advanced multimedia analysis tools, graph intelligence mechanisms to analyse relationships among criminal actors, and AI models to detect suspicious items in postal deliveries. These technologies will contribute to building a more comprehensive Drugs Intelligence Picture and support security practitioners in their investigations.

The presentation also illustrated several use cases that ARIEN will address, including combating illegal cultivation and trafficking of drugs, dismantling trafficking chains, monitoring new psychoactive substances and precursors, and analysing trafficking methods involving mail and postal parcels.

By engaging with networks such as PEN-CP, ARIEN aims to strengthen collaboration with customs practitioners and other security stakeholders, ensuring that the solutions developed within the project respond to real operational needs and contribute to more effective international cooperation in tackling drug trafficking.

Visit PEN-CP webiste for more information and find here the presentation made by ARIEN’s coordinator.