Exchange of experiences between the Bolivian and Brazilian police forces

In the framework of the European project to support special anti-drug forces in Bolivia, Bolivian police officers from the Special Force against Drug Trafficking (FELCN) and the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) of the General Command have exchanged experiences and best practices with the Brazilian Federal Police institutions in charge of the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime. Brazil and Bolivia share almost 3,500 km of land borders, which requires fluid and recurrent coordination between the two countries.  

This internship has allowed for an in-depth exchange of experiences and best practices, as well as improving collaboration and information exchange procedures between the two police forces. The protocol established between the Federal Police and the Brazilian Air Force for the control, monitoring and interception of illegal aircraft that fly over Brazilian airspace has been learned, with the aim of extracting data and a working methodology that can be transferred to Bolivian territory, taking into account the high incidence of this type of operations in drug trafficking in Bolivia.   

At the same time, new points of contact and procedures have been established for the exchange of information between the databases of both countries regarding aircraft registration numbers, pilots and legal and illegal airstrips in both countries.  

In terms of intelligence, the visit to the Directorate of Police Intelligence of the Federal Police of Brazil has allowed the collection of high added value inputs that allow their incorporation into the current restructuring process that the Bolivian Police is carrying out in its National Intelligence Directorate, under the auspices of the FIIAPP. The possibility of incorporating standardised processes will allow for a more fluid exchange of information in the future.  

Finally, it has been possible to learn about the procedures used in high-risk special operations by the Brazilian Federal Police’s Tactical Police Operations Command, which can be applied by the Bolivian FELCN, given the similarity of scenarios and casuistry. These are procedures that the FELCN is also updating since their implementation in the 1980s, and in which process the FIIAPP project is also collaborating.  

This visit has been included as an activity of the “Bolivia-Brazil Joint Commission for the fight against drug trafficking and related crimes”, which is the body whose purpose is to implement the Agreement on the fight against criminal organisations dedicated to the illicit trafficking of controlled substances and related crimes, ratified by both countries.