Islamic Republic of Iran


Strengthening Border Management and Interdiction Capacities of Afghan Police


Iranian instructor, Colonel Aslani, speaking on "hidden concealment"

Regional cooperation on political, security and economic issues is important not only towards the stable and sustainable development of Afghanistan but also to addressing the serious challenges posed by increasing opiates production and heroin trafficking.

In this context and as the result of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in New York by Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Iran and Italy to promote the stabilization and development in Afghanistan, and UNODC Iran coordinated and organized training for 15 Counter Narcotics officers from various provinces of Afghanistan in Tehran in November 2016. This event was held thanks to the close cooperation of the Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries and UNODC Iran.

This training workshop was the second of three workshops agreed upon between Iranian and Italian side at basic, intermediate and advanced levels. This workshop was run by Iranian and Italian law enforcement instructors. The overall objective was to train middle ranked Afghan police officers who were active in counter narcotics measures on the modules identified through needs assessment conducted by both Iranian and Italian side in several meetings with their Afghan counterpart.


Italian instructor Mr. Borsetti speaking on "technical devices and surveillance"

Throughout the training the Afghan senior police officers were introduced to general police structure of both Iran and Italy and were trained on several different modules including identification of hidden concealments, use of technology in identification and dismantling of criminal groups, joint operations and control delivery operations. 

To further familiarize the participants with available expertise in Iran and reflect the amount of support provided by Forensic labs to the police work, the participants had the opportunity to visit some of the equipment including x-ray and scanners during daily work at the Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) at entry point as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran Anti Narcotic Police specialized laboratories.

In the end the Afghan Police officers expressed their satisfaction over the training materials provided to them and requested organization of more similar events. The closing ceremony was held in the presence of the head of the Iranian Anti Narcotic Police, Ambassadors of Italy and Afghanistan to Iran and UNODC Iran.