INL Regional and Country Programs

Capacity-Building
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) works with law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, border security officials, financial intelligence units, anticorruption units, narcotics control units, economic development organizations, non-governmental organizations, and other counterparts to reinforce partner governments' efforts to promote the rule of law and successfully meet the demands of the 21st Century. INL's programs are tailored to bolster capacities of partner countries around the globe through multilateral, regional, and country-specific programs.

The International Narcotics Control element of the U.S. foreign assistance program enhances the institutional capabilities of foreign governments to define and implement their strategies and national programs to prevent the production, trafficking, and abuse of illicit drugs. These programs focus on interdiction capabilities, eradication, sustainable alternative development, and demand reduction. This includes reducing drug crop cultivation through a combination of law enforcement, eradication, and alternative development programs in key source countries as well as improving the capacity of host nation police and military forces to attack narcotics production and trafficking centers. It also includes strengthening the ability of law enforcement and judicial authorities in both source and transit countries to investigate and prosecute major drug trafficking organizations and their leaders and to seize and block their assets. INL's Aviation Division supports efforts to locate and eradicate drug crops, interdict drug production and trafficking activities, and develop their own institutional counter-narcotics aviation program.

The Law Enforcement Affairs element of the U.S. foreign assistance program strengthens capabilities of foreign governments to define and implement their strategies and national programs to combat criminal elements. These programs focus on the full spectrum of law enforcement, rule of law and justice sector institutional development. INL leads the U.S. delegations that negotiate UN crime-related conventions, such as the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention Against Corruption. INL works together with international organizations including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to develop international standards to stop terrorist financing and money laundering and provides technical assistance and training to help key countries implement these standards. INL also provides technical assistance and training to foreign partners in the fight to prevent alien smuggling and enhance border security, while other INL-led initiatives help protect the U.S. and global economies against cybercrime and intellectual property piracy. Any effective anti-crime/anti-terrorism program must also attack corruption, and INL plays a leading role in supporting several global, regional, and bilateral anti-corruption initiatives.

INL further advances the U.S. Government's international narcotics and crime control objectives through its network of International Law Enforcement Academies located in Hungary, Thailand, Botswana, and Roswell that provide advanced and specialized training to mid- and senior-level prosecutors, judicial and law enforcement officials from some 50 countries worldwide.