20–21 May 2026 – Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

MENAFATF holds Regional Workshop on “Virtual Assets and Laundering the Illicit Proceeds of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants”, held on 20–21 May 2026 in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, the Egyptian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit (EMLCU), and the National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons, with support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the regional programme “Strengthening Capacities to Rescue and Protect Migrants from Smuggling and Trafficking in the Context of Mixed Migration Flows”.

The workshop brought together approximately 50 representatives from law enforcement authorities, prosecution offices, Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), international and regional organizations, and blockchain analytics platforms from the Middle East and North Africa region and beyond. The event aimed to enhance participants’ understanding of the risks associated with virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), discuss the implementation of FATF Recommendation 15 and related standards, and examine emerging criminal typologies linked to trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, money laundering, and the misuse of virtual assets by organized criminal groups.

The workshop addressed a wide range of topics related to virtual assets and financial crime, including evolving criminal typologies, money laundering methods involving cryptocurrencies, blockchain investigations, digital wallets, blockchain tracing techniques, and practical investigative approaches. Sessions also examined the role of Web3 gaming environments, decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and blockchain-based ecosystems in facilitating illicit financial flows and organized criminal activity.