By Anupreeta Das

UNITED NATIONS, July 8 (Reuters) - Three U.N. bodies and Interpol have teamed up to fight smuggling and organized crime in West Africa where it is corrupting governments, aiding insurgents and polluting the environment.

The joint initiative, launched on Wednesday in New York, will help countries in one of the world's poorest regions improve law enforcement, strengthen justice and police national borders better, officials said.

West Africa is beset by the organized smuggling of contraband, including drugs, oil, electronic waste, cigarettes and fake medicine, according to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report released on Tuesday.

Exploiting the region's shaky governments and corrupt officials, crime networks undermine democracy and slow economic development, the report said.

Some theft and smuggling networks are linked to violent insurgents in the region.

UNODC has partnered with the U.N. departments of peacekeeping operations and political affairs and international police organization Interpol in drawing up a strategy to tackle the threat.

"Organized crime is plundering West Africa, destroying governments, the environment, human rights and health," UNODC head Antonio Maria Costa said on Tuesday.

The plan initially involves Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone forming joint crime units.

Such units, which have been successful elsewhere, will be staffed by officers vetted by the U.N. police and mentored by international experts, Costa said.

Organized crime networks in West Africa take advantage of porous borders, said U.N. Police Adviser Andrew Hughes.

"The best way to combat networks is with networks," Hughes said. "That's what we're aiming for with the transnational crime units."

(Editing by Alan Elsner)

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