OSCE trains law enforcement personnel on countering transnational organized crime and drug trafficking
AKTAU, western Kazakhstan, 27 July 2015 – A three-day OSCE-supported training seminar aimed to enhance the knowledge and improve the skills of law enforcement agencies in addressing transnational threats to security began today in Aktau.
Some 30 law enforcement officers from Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will learn best national and international practices on countering transnational organized crime and the illegal drug trafficking from experts from Georgia, the United States of America and the Central Asian Regional Information and Co-ordination Centre for Combating Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors (CARICC).
Experts will provide an overview of best practices in identifying and precluding international channels of illicit drugs and the drug precursor trade as well as in using controlled deliveries and psychological techniques to identify drug traffickers.
Mirco Guenther, Deputy Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, said that countering illegal drug trafficking and addressing transnational security threats was among the programmatic priority areas of the OSCE. “This is particularly true for the Programme Office in Astana, where we, together with domestic and international partners, conduct a number of activities throughout the year to assist Kazakhstan in further enhancing the capacity of law enforcement officers in this critically important area for national and regional security,” Guenther said.
Deputy Head of the Training Centre of the State Revenues Committee Muratzhan Dzhangozin noted that the training event is taking place in the city of Aktau, which is located close to the border and is a hub for international movements of goods, in particular to western European countries. “This makes the topic of our seminar especially important for this region. Law enforcement officers who are participating in this event, some of them from the area, are on the front line of countering illegal drug trafficking in their daily work,” Dzhangozin said.
The training seminar was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, the State Revenues Committee of the Finance Ministry and the United States Embassy in Kazakhstan.
The event is part of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana's activities to build the host country’s capacities to prevent and counter transnational organized crime with a specific focus on countering the illegal trafficking of narcotics and their precursors.