NEW YORK — With criminal networks looking to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical for governments to work together in line with a landmark UN treaty to combat human trafficking, gun smuggling, and other cross-border crimes, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday.

His comments came in a video message to the latest meeting of countries that have signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Palermo Convention, as the treaty is also known, and the UN chief underlined its importance at this particular moment.

“Criminals are seeking to profit from the COVID-19 crisis”, said Guterres.

“The pandemic has also heightened the vulnerability of migrants to risks of human trafficking and migrant smuggling. International cooperation through the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime is more urgent than ever”.

The week-long meeting, officially the 10th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention, is being held by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

In her opening address, UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly also underlined how the pandemic is an accelerator for criminal activity.

“One such emerging threat which poses an acute danger to human life is the sale of falsified medical products online”, she reported.

“Organized crime groups are selling substandard and falsified medical products, targeting individuals, health facilities, and public agencies through internet scams. Falsified COVID vaccines will soon be a lethal reality and governments need to be prepared to counter this threat.”

Waly added that healthcare systems continue to face cyberattacks, while lockdowns have precipitated a rise in online child sexual abuse. Meanwhile, movement restrictions have made migrants more vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.

Furthermore, criminal operations are threatening global COVID-19 response and compromising recovery, she continued. Crime groups have been stealing stimulus funds from those in need, and are infiltrating the legal economy through money laundering.

Some 190 countries are party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the only legally binding global instrument against this threat.

The Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 2000 and entered into force three years later. It is supplemented by three protocols against trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, and illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms. — UN news