Port Control Unit officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina train on drug precursors

12-15 September 2022, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina: The UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme (CCP) organized a training on drugs precursors for the officers of the Port Control Unit (PCU) at land-border Gradiška in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other officers from the Indirect Taxation Authority and Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina, aimed to enhance the overall capacities to identify and prevent trafficking of drug precursors.

The training focused on the identification of drugs, precursors, and chemicals, as well as methods for the interception of precursors and the most recent trends in the trafficking of precursors along the Balkan Route and around the world. The theoretical knowledge was put into practice through a hands-on exercise carried out at one of the customs facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In order to enhance information sharing among local authorities, the participants were familiarized with the Precursor Incident Communication System (PICS) used for secure communications on instances involving chemical trafficking. The system was designed by the International Narcotics Control Board and is used by numerous law enforcement and regulatory organizations worldwide.

The training was delivered as part of the EU-UNODC joint action on enhanced border control, currently implemented in South-Eastern Europe by CCP and the UNODC-WCO-INTERPOL Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP) in cooperation with the UNODC Regional Programme for South Eastern Europe and generously funded by the European Union.