Bolivia formalized its entry into the Global Port Container Control Program by inaugurating the work room of the Port Control Unit on Thursday (7.2.2019) together with the representation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the city of La Paz.
"The Container Control Program (CCP) will allow for increased control in Bolivian territory, which is strategic for the smuggling of goods from neighboring nations destined for the Pacific Ocean," explained Thierry Rostan, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bolivia.
The official said that initially the staff of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking and Customs, located in the Dry Port of Tambo Quemado, on the border with Chile, will be trained and equipped to identify risk profiles in containers that represent a possible threat related to drug trafficking, smuggling, counterfeit products and firearms trafficking, among others.
First Class intelligence
The equipment delivered, including a portable X-ray machine, two kits with a distance meter, a densitometer and a videoscope, will be able to intercept controlled substances such as cocaine, marijuana, synthetic drugs and precursors, he explained.
They will have computer and security means to strengthen control actions, such as a portable identifier for chemical substances.
Signing the official document with Rostan, the Bolivian Minister of Government, Carlos Romero, described the opening of this unit as a qualitative leap, which will initially allow the inspection of all types of vehicles to stop this crime. Romero thanked the delegation of the European Union and Germany, which, together with this State portfolio, provided funding through the UNODC Support Program to implement the Action Plan of the Strategy to Fight Drug Trafficking and Reduce Excess Coca Crops in Bolivia.
About the CCP
The CCP is present in the main ports of 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and globally in 51, with the aim of helping governments create more effective container controls by improving the capabilities of customs, police and national authorities.
"In 2018, the program seized more than 51 tons of cocaine, 471 kilograms of cannabis, contraband cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, endangered species of wild fauna and flora, and counterfeit products of well-known brands in the region, after inspecting 87 containers," said Bob Van Den Berghe, CCP representative for Latin America.
Source: Telesur
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