18-21 May 2020 - The CRIMJUST Global Programme and the Iberoamerican Network of Anti-drug Prosecutors (Red de Fiscales Antidroga de Iberoamérica [RFAI]) have band together to deliver four series of online trainings on “Specialized Controlled Deliveries” to tackle transnational drug trafficking to some 38 law enforcement officials and prosecutors (including 21 female, 17 male) from across Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa. Each training is divided into four online modules, each of which is delivered by a RFAI expert and aims to promote best practices in executing controlled deliveries by sea, air or land in line with relevant international legislation.
The first training course was delivered to investigators and prosecutors from Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia from 18 to 21 May 2020. It was jointly inaugurated by Ignacio de Lucas Martín, Coordinator of RFAI and Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of Spain, and Antonio Valverde, Project Officer of the Global Programme CRIMJUST. Mr. Valverde thanked the RFAI for its work in developing the training modules and recalled the importance of strengthening relationships between international organizations and specialized networks to bolster the development of coordinated criminal justice responses across regions.
Experts first offered participants an overview of the relevant international legal framework and requirements as well as shed light on the RFAI protocol and tools available to facilitate controlled deliveries across Latin America, recalling its extensive network and operational experience. The training then covered the investigative practices associated with undertaking cross-border controlled deliveries.
Finally, RFAI experts from Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia closed the training with a module on past experiences of executing controlled deliveries in these three countries, highlighting best practices and lessons learned and discussing encountered challenges. With cocaine production recording unprecedented levels in 2017, these three countries continue to report drug trafficking within their territory as organized crime groups exploit their geo-strategic location to smuggle drugs from Latin America across the Atlantic to lucrative consumer markets.
This training will be duplicated with the following group of countries, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador; Paraguay, Chile, Peru and the Dominican Republic; Cape Verde and Brazil.
This training was delivered online in line with domestic regulations and the World Health Organization’s recommendations for physical distancing due to the spread of COVID-19. This initiative joins CRIMJUST efforts to enhance law enforcement and judicial counter-narcotic strategies beyond interdiction activities by facilitating communication and collaboration between criminal justice institutions.
CRIMJUST is funded by the European Union under the framework of the "Global Illicit Flows Programme (GIFP)" and by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). It seeks to enhance law enforcement and judicial counter-narcotic strategies beyond interdiction activities and to foster transnational responses targeting each stage of the drug supply chain.
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