Project to combat drug trafficking and related crimes in Bolivia finalised

The project has been aligned with the Strategy against Illicit Trafficking of Controlled Substances and Control of the Expansion of Drug Crops. For two years, work has been carried out taking into account the processes of negotiation and dialogue between institutions, which have been the results of the project itself.

The comprehensive approach in the fight against drug trafficking has focused on several key elements: a strategy that has approached the fight against organised crime from a broader vision than interdiction; inter-institutional and international coordination; and the application of new and innovative perspectives and working models.

The project has benefited from the presence of 85 Spanish and French specialists in the short term, who have provided training and workshops for more than 2,000 Bolivian civil servants who have been trained in specialised areas. In addition, activities have been carried out at the regional level in Colombia, Chile, Peru and Brazil, and at the international level in Spain, which has allowed for a valuable exchange of experiences and the signing of agreements between institutions such as the Public Prosecutor’s Offices of Spain and Bolivia, which will make it possible to speed up investigations against criminal organisations linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and human trafficking.

Among the main results obtained, the following can be highlighted: modernisation of the pedagogical model of the International Training Centre Garras del Valor (CEIAGAVA); design of undergraduate police curricula; institutional diagnoses of the School of Prosecutors and Judges; support for the evaluation process of the Financial Action Task Force (GAFILAT) and the creation of a guide for joint preventive operations for prosecutors and police in the detection of possible victims of trafficking in brothels.

The main representatives of Bolivian institutions were the Minister of Government, accompanied by the Commander General of the Bolivian Police, the Director of the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI), the Rector General of the Police University, as well as representatives of the Financial Investigations Unit (UIF), the School of Judges, the Attorney General’s Office and other institutions. Also present were representatives of the Spanish and French Embassies in Bolivia, the General Coordinator of AECID in Bolivia and colleagues from the bilateral FIIAPP-EU project in Peru.