Belize Host First Synthetic Drug Detection Workshop in the Region

When it comes to anti-drug trafficking operations, Belize’s law enforcement agencies are stepping up their game to better counteract instances of it in Belize. For decades, drug trafficking and drug-related offenses have continued to threaten the safety of Belizean citizens and compromise the integrity of our borders. That is why today, the World Customs Organization kicked off day one of a week-long training with twenty-eight representatives from police, customs, civil aviation, and the Belize Defense Force, to learn from experts with specialist knowledge in combatting the illicit trafficking of synthetic drugs through air transportation. News Five’s Britney Gordon has more details.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Synthetic drugs are man-made substances like cannabinoids, bath salts, or even fentanyl. Some are designed to mimic controlled drugs, making them harder to detect and skirt around the law. Now, while these drugs aren’t widely produced or used here in Belize, our country has long been a transit point for traffickers moving them across borders. That’s why the World Customs Organization is stepping in with a five-day training course for Belizean law enforcement. They are aiming to sharpen their skills in spotting and stopping these dangerous substances before they move through our ports and borders.

 

Froilan Blanco, Technical Expert, Synthetic Drug Detection Project

“So, we have designed specifically this training for Belize and invited to participate in the training custom officers, police officers, officials from the Belize defense force and also from civil aviation because it’s in a specific means of transportation. And for facing the problem with the organized crime, we need to involve the participation of all agencies.”

 

The objective is to carry out effective controls of general aviation and address the illicit trafficking of synthetic drugs through air transport. Froilan Blanco says the training is more than spotting synthetic drugs. Officers will also learn how to intercept other illegal substances because all of them pose a serious threat to public safety.

 

Froilan Blanco

“In facing the problem of organized crime and in particular stopping the illicit trafficking of synthetic, all kind of drugs, all kind of illicit merchandises, but specifically synthetic drugs because if it’s the current problem, the drugs of the present.”

 

Participating in the training are twenty-eight officers who carry out monitoring and control activities or risk analysis and intelligence gathering functions. Throughout the week, these officers will learn how vital cross-agency collaboration is to the mission. Assistant Controller at the Belize Customs and Excise Department explains why trainings like these are crucial to the work the department does.

 

Therese Martinez, Assistant Controller, Belize Customs & Excise Department

“As frontline officers, they are the officers who inspect goods, inspect people, and also inspect conveyances. So it is important for them to have the capabilities to detect synthetic drugs, to protect society, and also to protect themselves because these drugs can be potent. Skin contact or inhalation can be lethal to the officer. So it is important for officers to gain this knowledge, to be able to improve themselves, to be able to detect these substances to protect society as well as to provide global security.”

 

The training focuses on two main components: practical exercises related to control procedures and risk assessment.  Providing an opportunity for participants to jointly share their expertise and coordinate their enforcement activities.

 

Froilan Blanco

“One of the is risk analysis. Because nowadays we are living in the data world and we need to use intelligence as a tool for facing global problems like this. And the other one is interdiction, is how to properly run the checks on aircraft and this type of things because it’s not easy. It’s not like a car, it’s not like any other big vehicle. It has specific characteristics. So the people needs to be ready, well prepared for running those checks.”

 

The World Customs Organization is also preparing to host an international forum in Argentina at the end of the year for more than thirty countries to further control the transit of these substances across the world. Britney Gordon for News Five.