EUBAM organized eight training events in September-October for the Moldovan and Ukrainian partners from Border and Customs agencies to improve vessel search techniques and better combat firearms, cigarettes, and drug trafficking. Altogether 136 officers took part.
Maritime and river transport is the most effective and economical way of transporting large cargo from one place to another. Because of their size, ships are also a great hiding place for contraband. Giurgulesti International Port has 5-6 vessels coming in from around the world every week. Two EUBAM experts from Poland and Finland shared their knowledge to better prepare for the vessel search: the most efficient search techniques and practical risk analysis because improving those techniques are essential for the safety and security of the Republic of Moldova. But as the experts emphasized, you must use a lot of imagination to discover the hiding places because “smugglers have a lot of time to think about them at sea”.
The fight against drug trafficking is continuous all-around Europe, and The Republic of Moldova is no exception. Criminals are using the country to transit to the EU, but unfortunately, domestic demand for drugs is growing. To better combat drug trafficking, EUBAM organized four training events in September to introduce the latest practices from the experts of Germany and Poland. Altogether around half a hundred officers of Moldovan Border Police in Ungheni, Chisinau, Stefan Voda and Edinet learned about the recent case studies, different drugs and their effects, risk profiling, and most common smuggling routes.
Firearms trafficking fuels other types of serious crimes, and criminals use creative ways to hide them when crossing the border. EUBAM dedicated last week at the Ungheni Border Security Center of Excellence to combating weapons, ammunition and explosives smuggling training for future trainers. Participants from Moldovan Border Police and Ukrainian Border Guards learned about the trends in trafficking and how to remain safe while handling them, the importance of international information exchange etc.
Now colleagues from the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are ready to take the knowledge to their organizations and train others. Trainers from the Polish Border Guard and the Moldovan General Police Inspectorate ensured that the future trainers were armed with all necessary skills to cascade the learned knowledge to their colleagues.
Also 50 Moldovan Customs officials participated in 4 theoretical-practical training activities to combat cigarette smuggling. The aim of the training was to improve the skills in selecting vehicles for controls, detecting potential smugglers, and learning about the construction of vehicles. EUBAM organised the training in customs posts in Palanca, Criva, and Cahul, as well as on the premises of the Training Center of the Customs Service.
