United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

15-17 October, Bar, Montenegro: Following a training of trainers (TOT) held in September in Vienna, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently gathered a group of 15 national practitioners from Montenegro for a course on the identification and analysis of suspicious transactions related to terrorism financing.

During the course, participants were introduced to essential crypto-asset analysis principles and techniques, focusing on planning, preparing, and developing commodity flow charts from various intelligence sources. Sessions included a hands-on Bitcoin tracing exercise, where participants identified entity connections and explored crypto-asset analysis tools to better understand transaction patterns - a skill of growing importance given the rise of cryptocurrency in illicit finance.

Local Montenegrin trainers who completed the TOT in September, delivered the course alongside 3 international experts, engaging their colleagues from the Customs Administration, Tax Administration, Financial Intelligence Unit and Police Directorate, in theoretical sessions, practical exercises, and interactive discussions.

The course forms part of a comprehensive training program launched this year in Montenegro to further build the operational framework to prevent terrorists from moving, using and raising funds for terrorist purposes.

The training program is implemented in partnership with OSCE, and supported by UNODC’s Global Program against Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism (GPML) and the Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe (ROSEE). The program aligns with UNODC’s Regional Program for South-Eastern Europe (RPSEE) in the context of UNODC’s wider engagement to address organized crime, money laundering and cybercrime in the region. The event was generously supported by the USA and Norway.