|
International
Training
The DEA International Training Section (TRI) has been conducting
international counter-narcotics training since 1969. TRI is recognized
as the world pioneer in international training and serves as the model
for a variety of international law enforcement training efforts. DEA's
role has grown to include that of international consultant to law enforcement
agencies, as well as foreign governments seeking to develop quality narcotics
law enforcement programs, organizational infrastructures, and judicial
reforms.
The specific courses offered by TRI are continually changing as new
curricula are developed and instituted in response to experiences, changes
in law enforcement emphasis, current international narcotics trafficking
situations, new technologies, and specific requests of the host governments.
However, the curricula generally include core narcotics enforcement principles
and techniques. Topics of instruction include: initiation and development
of narcotics investigations, surveillance techniques, pharmacology, intelligence
collection and analytical methods, tactical safety, interviewing, drug
identification, asset forfeiture and financial investigations, undercover
operations, operational planning and an overview of current international
trafficking trends and situations. All DEA international training programs
have as a major objective the building of regional working relationships
between countries.
Objectives
The specific objectives of
DEA’s International Training Program
are to:
1. Upgrade the drug law enforcement capabilities of foreign law
enforcement agencies.
2. Encourage and assist key countries in developing self-sufficient
narcotics investigation training programs.
3. Increase cooperation and communication between foreign law enforcement
personnel and DEA in international drug trafficking intelligence and
operations.
4. Provide foreign officials with motivation, as well as the necessary
skills and knowledge required to initiate and continue high-level international
drug investigations.
5. Develop regional cooperation between countries and encourage long-range
strategic planning to enhance enforcement and intelligence operations.
International Programs Offered
TRI offers both in-country and regional training programs conducted
by mobile training teams. In-country programs are seminars conducted
in a host country and only include participants from that country. Regional
training is designed to bring together a combination of participants
from a number of countries sharing common drug trafficking issues or
routes. Regional schools have been found to be beneficial in fostering
an improvement in professional relationships among the participants,
in addition to covering the topical materials. An advance pre-school
planning and assessment trip is conducted by a training team member to
design each school to the specific requirements of the receiving country.
-
Basic
Drug Enforcement Seminar: The Basic Drug Enforcement Seminar provides
two weeks of basic
training in traditional investigative techniques
focusing on drug trafficking in the region. This training presents
skills necessary to plan, organize, and operate in the drug enforcement
arena
and ensures that participants are fully aware of DEA's mission
and how it is implemented. Another goal of the seminar is to establish
and promote
professional and personal relationships between the participants,
which will further enhance cooperation and assistance in enforcement
operations.
-
Advanced
Drug Enforcement Seminar: The primary goal of the Advanced Drug
Enforcement Seminar
is to provide advanced training in specialized
investigative techniques by focusing on drug trafficking in the
region and the management principles of these techniques. This
training also
fosters professional relationships between the respective law enforcement
agencies by enhancing cooperation between DEA and its law enforcement
counterparts. Advanced Drug Enforcement Seminars are two weeks
in length.
-
Asset Forfeiture
Training Program: The International Asset Forfeiture
Training Program goal is to provide a forum for the U.S. and
host countries to exchange information on each country’s forfeiture laws,
practices, and policies, as well as to promote future cooperation
and assistance
between the U.S. and foreign countries to identify and seize
illegal proceeds. The International Asset Forfeiture Training
Program objectives
are to: instruct high-ranking police officials, prosecutors,
policy makers, and judges on U.S. Asset Forfeiture and Money
Laundering laws; instruct
the participants on how to develop an asset forfeiture and money
laundering group, how to initiate cases and continue the investigation;
instruct
participants in how to gather information in conducting financial
investigations through case examples. Advance courses include
topics such as: Money
Laundering through Internet Banking and Terrorist Financing.
-
Specialized
Training: TRI also conducts one- and two-week specialized training
seminars designed
to meet the specific needs of a particular
country. Where appropriate, specialized instructors augment permanent
mobile training team staff for particular curricula.
Examples of specialized training schools include:
- Narcotic Unit
Commanders Course; Undercover Operations; Clandestine Laboratory
Investigations; Precursor Chemical Diversion Investigations;
Officer Safety and Survival; Airport Introduction Operations; Intelligence
Collection and Analysis Methods; Asset Forfeiture/Financial/Money
Laundering Investigations; Judicial, Maritime Smuggling and Forensic
Chemist Seminar
-
International
Narcotics Enforcement Management Seminar (INEMS): INEMS is a three-week program held in the U.S. for upper-level executives
and managers of foreign operational drug units. The INEMS stresses narcotic
enforcement principles and techniques from a manager’s viewpoint.
In addition to management concepts, the supervisors are exposed
to the current and innovative enforcement techniques used by DEA
and other U.S.
enforcement agencies. Each country is required to present an overview
of the narcotics situation relative to its own country during the
INEMS program.
International Law Enforcement Academies
Recognizing that the pervasive
influence of organized transnational crime threatens the stability
and rule of law in emerging democracies
around the world, the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) program
was established by the U.S. Department of State in 1995. The ILEA program
fosters a cooperative law enforcement partnership and involvement between
the U.S. and participating nations to counter the threat of international
crime within a specific region. The ILEA develops foreign police managers’ abilities
to handle a broad spectrum of contemporary law enforcement issues and
increases their capacity to investigate crime and criminal organizations.
ILEAs are currently operating in Budapest, Hungary; Bangkok, Thailand,
Gaborone, Botswana, and San Salvador, El Salvador. Funding for the ILEAs
is provided by the Department of State’s Bureau for International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
-
ILEA
Budapest: TRI provides one-week of counter-narcotics training at
each of the five
annual eight-week sessions of law enforcement training
at the ILEA in Budapest, Hungary. Twenty-four countries from Central
Europe and the former Soviet Union have participated in ILEA Budapest
training. In addition to involvement in the eight week sessions,
beginning in 2005 TRI will also conduct a one-week Drug Unit Commanders
Course
(DUCC).
-
ILEA
Bangkok: DEA holds the directorship at the ILEA in Bangkok, Thailand.
The ILEA Bangkok
core program of instruction is the six-week
Supervisory Criminal Investigator Course (SCIC). TRI provides seven
days of instruction during the SCIC, including officer safety,
raid planning,
and tactical training. Twelve countries from Southeast Asia participate
in ILEA Bangkok training. TRI is also involved in several specialized
courses at ILEA Bangkok including a Tactical Safety Course, Drug
Unit Commanders Course, and Instructor Development Course.
-
ILEA
Gaborone: ILEA Gaborone, Botswana, became operational in
2001. During 2002, ILEA Gaborone formalized its training programs, which
now include a six-week supervisor’s course, the Law Enforcement
Executive Development (LEED), and a number of specialized courses.
ILEA Botswana serves 14 countries in Southern Africa. TRI provides
four days
of counter-narcotics training at each of the four annual sessions.
-
ILEA San
Salvador: San Salvador, El Salvador, was selected in
2005 as the permanent venue for ILEA Latin America, and the first six-week
Pilot training program, titled the “Law Enforcement Management
Development Program” was conducted at the Academia Nacional
De Seguridad Publica (ANSP) academy. It is anticipated that a new
academy
to serve Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean will
be built on the ANSP grounds with a ground breaking ceremony in
2006. DEA
will serve as the Deputy Director for ILEA Latin America, which
will also hold some specialized training courses at an alternate
training
venue in Lima, Peru.
Sensitive Investigative
Unit (SIU) Training In the FY1997 DOJ Appropriations
Act, the U.S. Congress authorized and approved funding for DEA to create,
train, and support SIU programs
in key countries critical to the counter narcotics objectives of the
U.S. The conceptual basis of this program is to identify and train DEA
foreign counterparts to work in sensitive bilateral investigations. The
personnel selected from their respective countries to participate in
the SIU program undergo strict security screening. These procedures,
called a “vetting process,” include drug testing, background
investigations, and polygraph examinations.
Upon successful completion
of this “vetting process,” the
SIU personnel travel to the DEA Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia,
to attend a five-week SIU specialized training program. TRI is tasked
with the development, coordination, and implementation of the SIU training
program. Beyond the initial five-week specialized training program, TRI
provides in-service training to select members of the SIUs in an effort
to encourage
them to develop their agencies’ institutional training and management
techniques. The SIU program is managed by DEA’s Office of Foreign
Logistics International Programs (OIAL). The ten countries currently
involved in the SIU program are: Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil,
Thailand, Pakistan, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and Uzbekistan. As of
calendar year 2004, TRI has trained over 1,700 SIU personnel. ![photo - Training Classroom](part18fig1.jpg)
The International
Training Classroom
at the DEA Academy.
Previous
Section
| TOC | Next Section
|