GRIDS convenes cross-border twinning event in India for officers from India and Sri Lanka to strengthen awareness of synthetic drugs and safe interdiction for intelligence exchange in the South Asia region
Photo: Opening Ceremony of the India-Sri Lanka twinning event held at NCB Headquarters, New Delhi, India
New Delhi, India, 14 December 2023 - In a partnership aimed at curbing the trafficking of emerging synthetic drugs and related chemicals, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) successfully convened its inaugural cross-border twinning event of law enforcement and regulatory from India and Sri Lanka. Mr. Vijaindra Singh, Deputy Director, Narcotics Control Bureau of India, gave the inaugural address and Ms. Sheila Kamdar, Regional Technical Officer, INCB, made the opening remarks. The twinning event focused on strengthening awareness and intelligence exchange in the South Asia region related to New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) with safe interdiction of the most dangerous synthetic opioids.
The objectives of the twinning event were to build the capabilities of frontline officials in identifying new psychoactive substances (NPS), sharing intelligence, and acquiring techniques for the safe interdiction of dangerous synthetic opioids. These potent substances pose significant threats as they are widely available and not under international control. Ten officers from the Customs Service in Sri Lanka, and the Narcotics Control Bureau and Central Bureau of Narcotics in India, took part in the event. Cross-border regional activities included team building, trust-building, exchanging best practices and informal bilateral case meetings to discuss trafficking of dangerous substances in the South Asian region. A foreign law enforcement information session included attaches from the U.S., French, and Belgian embassies to share common regional challenges.
Ms. Shelia Kamdar, the GRIDS Regional Technical Officer for South Asia, presented the latest global and regional trafficking trends of dangerous substances, including NPS, synthetic opioids, and related chemicals. Participants exchanged regional and national trends and discussed trafficking modus operandi encountered in their work. Officers received access to INCB's proprietary tools, IONICS, GRIDS Intelligence HD, and ELITE to enhance the global exchange of information and intelligence to support international investigations.
Officers received personal protective equipment and sensitive field drug testing kits along with science-based training on their appropriate use, matched to the realities of the field environment where the frontline officers operate. These resources were supplemented with field guides, awareness posters and access to the ELITE virtual training environment.
Photo: Participants from Sri Lanka Customs
The participants made a site visit to the Foreign Post Office in New Delhi, India, to learn security operations, x-ray anomalies, and suspicious parcels and interdicting strategies and procedures implemented by Indian Customs and Postal Security Officers to identify and interdict dangerous substances shipped through the post.
Photo: Site visit to the Foreign Post Office in New Delhi, India
The Board's Global Rapid Interdiction of Dangerous Substances (GRIDS) Programme and Project ION and OPIOIDS Project support Governments' capacity to respond to changing trafficking, illicit manufacture, marketing and sales of NPS, non-medical synthetic opioids and fentanyl-related substances by providing real-time communication, facilitating information exchange and intelligence development that interdict distribution of dangerous substances. These events were made possible by the generous support from the United States Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL).
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