The Joint Expert Group on combating organised crime related to drug trafficking (OC-DT) convened its sixth meeting on 1–2 October 2025 in Brussels. The Chair Gareth Henry opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees.

Humbert de Biolley, deputy Head of the Council of Europe liaison Office in Brussels addressed the opening of the meeting, highlighting the urgent connection between drug trafficking and violence in major European cities and underlining key priorities in this context:

• Promote adopted guidelines and priorities with EU institutions and relevant organisations in Brussels
• Strengthen visibility and application of Council of Europe criminal law standards
• Foster deeper cooperation with Latin American states in combating drug trafficking.

For two days, the experts reviewed the final Background Study concerning organised crime related to drug trafficking prepared by two independent experts, establishing and agreeing on the ten key priorities for an Information Note developed for the upcoming Pompidou Group Committee meeting and 19^th Ministerial Conference taking place on 27-28 November 2025. The experts also reviewed the third version of the Draft Policy Guidelines on combating organised crime related to drug trafficking based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

An online meeting is set for 17 October 2025 to finalise and refine these documents that this Experts Group has developed and reviewed before submitting them to the Pompidou Group governing bodies. This marks another pivotal step in strengthening the Pompidou Group's efforts in addressing and preparing standard responses to organised crime related to drug trafficking.