21/04/2017
Members of the different Bolivian security forces receiving training on fighting drug trafficking.
Members of the different Bolivian security forces receiving training on fighting drug trafficking.
The Bolivian government and the European Union have signed a cooperation agreement to fight drug trafficking based on training officials from the different security forces of the Bolivian state.
This agreement, signed by the general coordinator of the National Council for Fighting Illicit Drug Trafficking (CONALTID), Sabino Mendoza, and the head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bolivia, León de la Torre, forms part of the programme to support the adaptation of drug legislation in Bolivia, funded by the European Commission and managed by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP).
Under this agreement, FIIAPP will organise training activities to be led by experts from the Spanish Civil Guard and National Police together with the French police for members of the Bolivian police, National Customs agency, Financial Investigative Unit (UIF), Attorney General’s Office and Plurinational Public Defender’s Office.
These training sessions will be centred on the following areas: intelligence, operational criminal investigation, control of borders and goods, money laundering, and human smuggling and trafficking.
The signing ceremony was attended by the deputy minister of Social Defence and Controlled Substances, Felipe Cáceres; the EU ambassador, León de la Torre Krais; and the director of the FIIAPP Security and Justice Area, Mariano Guillén Oquendo, among others.
During the event, the EU ambassador to Bolivia, León de la Torre, referred to the modification of the General Law on Coca Leaf passed by the Bolivian government, which increases the number of hectares dedicated to legal cultivation of coca leaf from 12,000 to 22,000, as an example of the commitment of the European Union in its cooperation with Bolivia: “since the law was passed, we have been studying how to perfect, improve and enhance the effectiveness of our cooperation with Bolivia in this area. There has been talk of a need to refocus, but not reduce, projects; therefore, we continue to be committed to supporting Bolivia, especially in the fight against drug trafficking”.
