INCB GRIDS raises awareness on dangerous substances and builds information sharing capacity in Southern Africa

30 June 2021 - The INCB Global Rapid Interdiction of Dangerous Substances (GRIDS) Programme delivered a training webinar to 70 international law and regulatory enforcement officers representing 9 member countries from the Communications Regulators' Association of Southern Africa (CRASA). The meeting built on the long-standing partnership and cooperation of the GRIDS programme with the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

The 70 participants, including Postal Regulators, Operators, Drug Enforcement Agencies, Customs and State Police, from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe participated in the online training course in compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures. The objective of the training was to begin a dialogue of cooperation and raise awareness of the dangers NPS, synthetic opioids and other substances not currently under international control pose to not only front line officers but the public at large. In addition, the GRIDS team sought to inform governments on the INCB global approaches and operational tools that enhance officer capacity to counter trafficking in these dangerous substances. Participants received access to and training on the secure communication platform IONICS and GRIDS Intelligence tool, the INCB's newly launched state-of-the-art visual analytics tool that allows fast identification of routing and modus operandi to support the strategic and operational work of national officers. Officers were also given an in-depth training and awareness raising session on the safe handling of opioids and other dangerous substances in their workplace.

Highlighting the key role of postal investigators to prevent trafficking of these substances in the region, many participants raised concerns about the increased trafficking volumes through postal channels during the current COVID-19 pandemic and recognized the need for Southern African countries to address shared trafficking threats through improved communication and the sharing of best practices. Brian Mwansa, Head-Postal at CRASA highlighted that "the fact that we had such a good mix of interested stakeholders underscored the importance of this initial awareness-raising engagement and all the material that was shared with us today." He further emphasized that "the intelligence-sharing capabilities of the platforms that were demonstrated today are a crucial link that we have been missing in terms of not only identifying the vulnerabilities that are present, but also in accentuating the multi-stakeholder collaboration that is needed in combating the growing threat of NPS."


Photo: The dual hemisphere training brought more than 240 international law and regulatory enforcement officers

The work was carried out under the Board's Global Rapid Interdiction of Dangerous Substances (GRIDS) programme, as a response to the 2018 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 73/192, calling for "International cooperation to address and counter the world drug problem", by responding to requests by Member States to enhance their law enforcement capacity to detect and identify new psychoactive substances and promote cross-border cooperation and information-sharing through the use of the Board's specialized tools and projects. Under the GRIDS programme, the Project ION, the OPIOIDS Project and the IONICS platform provide practical tools to interdict illicit manufacture, marketing, movement and monetization of dangerous NPS, fentanyl-related substances and their precursors, through information and intelligence exchange.

The event was made possible through the generous investments by the Government of Canada.

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

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