In partnership with WCO and UPU, GRIDS participated in a regional workshop focused on enhancing Customs and Postal efforts in detecting synthetic drugs via the mail channel held in Bali, Indonesia
2-6 September 2024 Bali, Indonesia - In a partnership with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and Universal Postal Union (UPU), GRIDS participated in the second regional workshop under the WCO Synthetic Drugs Detection Project - Mail Channel Initiative (WCO-SDDP-MC), which was focused on practical activities hosted by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise in Bali, Indonesia. The first regional workshop which was focused on theoretical concepts was hosted by the Customs Department of Thailand in Bangkok, Thailand in April 2024. Both workshops aimed to enhance the drug control capacity of customs officers and postal security officers in Asia and the Pacific region. The workshop in Bali focused on enhancing Customs and Postal efforts in detecting synthetic drugs via the mail channel. Participants included Customs and Postal officers from nine countries including Indonesia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Tonga, Mongolia, Fiji, Maldives, and Solomon Islands.
The WCO-SDDP-MC is focused on enhancing Customs and Postal efforts in detecting synthetic drugs via the mail channel and is being implemented in cooperation with INCB and UPU. This workshop, in particular, aimed at curbing the trafficking of emerging synthetic drugs and related chemicals through awareness-raising and intelligence exchange related to New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) via the IONICS secure platform and the GRIDS intelligence tool. Activities also included team building, trust-building, networking, and exchanging best practices and sharing common modus operandi and regional challenges.
Ms. Sheila 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. 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 and were given training on the safe handling and interdiction of dangerous substances using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
The participants visited the Indonesian Postal Facility and Customs Office sites. They were exposed to risk criteria, security operations, x-ray anomalies, and examinations of suspicious parcels and interdicting strategies and procedures including canine detections of suspicious packages.
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 United States Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL).
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