Spanish intelligence and criminal investigation, a benchmark for Bolivia

In Bolivia, drug trafficking is the dominant sector in organized crime. The changes in its methods of organization and action require constant adaptation in the devices and strategies fighting this problem.

This is why the project European support for Bolivian institutions in the fight against drug trafficking and related offences organized a visit to Spain to see in situ the structure and organization of Spain’s police intelligence and criminal investigation units. The visitors also observed the coordination existing between them during investigations and the use and distribution of information on security.

Spain is a benchmark in intelligence handling at the national, international and cooperation levels. The project, which is financed by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP, in coordination with CONALTID, organizes this type of activity to identify strategies for strengthening institutions in the areas of intelligence and criminal investigation. The protocols, mechanisms and procedures of the Spanish law-enforcement agencies were therefore on display.

For one week, the participants visited the headquarters of the National Police, Civil Guard, Ministry of the Interior and FIIAPP. Meetings were held there with their counterparts in order to open up future institutional cooperation relationships and provide mutual assistance in the fight against organized crime and an exchange of information.

Among the participants were representatives of Bolivian institutions and bodies, such as the National Drug Control Council (CONALTID), the Bolivian Police and the Regional Centre for Anti-Narcotics Intelligence (CERIAN).

All of this was intended to make the Spanish example a reference point for the Bolivian Intelligence and Criminal Investigation System, and to open the way for international operational police coordination in this área.