31 July-02 August 2019 - The Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC ROPAN), under the framework of CRIMJUST, held a workshop on measures to combat money laundering and strengthen institutional integrity in the fight against drug trafficking for thirty (30) prosecutors, including twelve (12) women and eighteen (18) men, in the Dominican Republic.
Attorney General Mr. Jean Rodriguez inaugurated the opening ceremony, commending the Dominican Republic for making strong progress in the fight against money laundering. He highlighted current efforts undertaken to strengthen investigation techniques and to reinforce collaboration between law enforcement and judicial officials. He further alluded to the challenges posed by informing the public and private sectors of the risks engendered by money laundering.
During the three-day training, participants discussed challenges encountered when investigating cases of drug trafficking, and related organized crime, as well as brainstormed possible solutions. Issues explored included special investigative techniques pertinent to countering money laundering, the importance of conducting parallel asset investigations and asset recovery (international cooperation). The professionalization, sophistication and transnational nature of the crime of money laundering were identified as key challenges. As such, recommendations offered included enhancing investigative and financial capacities of law enforcement and judicial officers, notably to facilitate handling of digital evidence, as well as providing additional support to officials to request international legal assistance.
Additionally, UNODC expert Mrs. Cristina Ritter delivered a special training on standardizing a professional code of conduct as well as on implementing internal procedures in line with international standards, better understanding prosecutorial proceedings and requiring public financial disclosure records from employees. Her presentation demonstrated the need to uphold a code of conduct with legal, administrative and procedural guidelines to ensure fair and transparent procedures and to facilitate the implementation of anti-money laundering policies.
This article was originally published on the website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC ROPAN) here.
This activity was implemented as part of CRIMJUST's component to strengthen capacities of criminal justice institutions. It was funded by the European Union under the framework of the "Cocaine Route Programme". CRIMJUST 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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Additional components of CRIMJUST are funded by