Sub-regional Training on SINCB GRIDS Intelligence tools, Awareness Raising, and Opioids Safe Interdiction approaches for intelligence purposes for drug law enforcement and regulatory officers of Thailand, Viet Nam, and Lao PDR
14-15 December 2023, Bangkok, Thailand - The International Narcotics Control Board's (INCB's) Global Rapid Interdiction of Dangerous Substances (GRIDS) Programme organized a two-day sub-regional training on the INCB GRIDS intelligence tools, awareness raising, and opioids safe interdiction approaches for intelligence purposes for law enforcement and regulatory officers of Thailand, Viet Nam, and Lao PDR in Bangkok from 14-15 December 2023.
Photo: Ms. Sritrakool Waeladee, Director of Foreign Affairs Bureau, ONCB, Thailand, delivering opening remarks
In her opening remarks, Ms. Sritrakool Waeladee, the Director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) of Thailand, expressed her appreciation to the INCB for organizing the training to strengthen the law enforcement network in the country and the region for more effective drug control. Complementing her remarks, Mr. Fumio Ito, Project Manager of Project ION (International Operations on New Psychoactive Substances), thanked the Thai government for hosting the event and expressed his confidence that the training will help the officers in establishing practical networks for information sharing and operational cooperation while responding to the threats posed by emerging opioids and related dangerous substances not under international control, in their respective countries and the region. He also thanked the Government of Japan and the USA for their supports.
Photo: Officers receiving training on IONICS and GRIDS Intelligence tools
15 officers (5 from each country) from various national agencies including health, regulatory, police, customs, drug enforcement participated in the event. The participants gained a comprehensive understanding of the GRIDS programme, its strategic initiatives, and various activities carried out to address the challenges associated with the trafficking of new psychoactive substances, non-medical synthetic opioids, and related precursors. The representatives of the three countries provided national updates on the latest trends and seizures of dangerous substances and discussed opportunities for inter-agency cooperation to prevent their trafficking at national and regional-level.
Photo: Officers receiving training on NPS identification, safe interdiction and presumptive test of dangerous substances
The participants, guided by Mr. Nguyen Duc Long, the GRIDS Programme's Regional Technical Officer for the South East Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific, received training on IONICS, the Project ION communication system for sharing real-time information related to the seizures of the NPS and other dangerous substances; and on GRIDS Intelligence HD, the advanced targeting system that transforms IONICS communications into actionable intelligence for daily operations and risk-profiling. Additionally, Mr. Rohan Thomas Edmunds, the Programme's scientific expert, conducted special sessions on the identification of NPS and on the safe handling and proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the officers to enhance their awareness of the safety measures when dealing with opioids and other dangerous substances.
Photo: Participants from Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam along with GRIDS Teams members
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.
This event was made possible through generous support from the Governments of Japan and the USA.
Click here to learn more about the GRIDS Programme
Click here to learn more about the OPIOIDS Project
Click here to learn more about the Project ION