U.S. Coast Guard trains port, customs officers
Smuggling is a recurrent problem at all of Belize’s ports and borders. As the smugglers of contraband goods get more creative in their methods, law enforcement personnel have to get more aggressive. This week those who police the borders are learning some tricks of the smuggling trade from their counterparts in the United States.
The Port Authority, Customs, The Belize Defence Force and police
are tightening up on security to combat drug smuggling through the various ports of entries. The law enforcement agencies have sent a total of twenty-four employees to be trained in areas such as basic physical security, vulnerability awareness and assessment, container examinations, narcotics smuggling trends and hazardous situations.
Burton Brooks, Spotter, Port Authority
“What it gears up for is teaching us to spot uncustomed goods, hiding place in the containers for narcotics, that kind of stuff. I am really excited about it and I am looking forward to it because it is a new thing for me.”
The five-day workshop sponsored by the United States Embassy is being conducted by representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs.
Troy Riedel, Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard
“We are here on behalf of the United States Embassy and we are conducting a port physical security/port vulnerability assessment. And the focus of this trip is to help the local enforcement authorities, the Port Authority, the Defence Force as well as the Customs here. We are to help them improve their port physical security, how to do an assessment for a potential risk. The whole emphasis of this is to help improve counter narcotics interdiction and also help national offence and the overall security of the facilities.”
Besides the theory classes, the participants will be taken out to the Port Authority where they will be put to the test doing practical exercises on the compound.
Clyde Young, Checker, Port Authority
“They are going to show us how they hide things in hidden compartments in containers — probably some boats or vehicles that are sent to the port to ship out. So I think it should be useful because in my job at the Port Authority I am a checker and I am the one responsible for delivering the correct goods to consignees and you know it could help in detecting illegal things being delivered.”
It is not the first time the United States has assisted Belize in law enforcement training. In 1998 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs Service, the El Paso Intelligence Center and the U.S. Department of Defence conducted similar workshops.
