From 19 to 21 October 2021, UNODC's Global Firearms Programme delivered a training for first line responders from the Customs, Police and Postal Services on detection of firearms trafficking in Guyana. The activity was conducted in cooperation with Guyana’s national authorities and CARICOM IMPACS.
The training aimed at strengthening capacities of practitioners to detect illicitly transferred firearms through postal and fast parcels, as well as at land and maritime borders. To that end, it combined theoretical and practical activities. Trainees received lectures of experts around the globe from UNODC, CARICOM IMPACS, as well as INTERPOL, EUROPOL, ATF and Trinidad and Tobago, among others. During the practical exercises, they put into practice what they had learned, such as searching for concealed firearms and parts and components in vehicles, identifying risk indicators, or visiting Customs at Georgetown’s international airport.
The training included three sessions, starting with an examination of the new trends of trafficking, manufacturing and diversion of firearms (such as disassembled firearms, use of the darkweb, fast parcels, 3-D printing, etc.), followed by specific tools and techniques to detect illicit firearms (risk management, profiling, concealment methods, etc. which also included several practical exercises), and concluding with international cooperation and information sharing to detect and disrupt illicit firearms flows. The sessions sought to develop the capacities on detection of firearms trafficking in line with established procedures and operational tactics, and to increase inter agency cooperation at the borders.
The three-days-training was officially opened with a ceremony that was honoured with a keynote speech of Honourable Roberson Benn, Minister of Internal Affairs of Guyana, who recognised the importance of reducing the circulation of illicit arms to contribute to reduce violence and other related crimes in the country.
The activity was organised thanks to the generous support of Germany, in the framework of the Global Firearms Programme’s project “Support to the implementation of the crime prevention and criminal justice component of the Caribbean Roadmap to counter illicit firearms trafficking and misuse across the Caribbean in a sustainable manner by 2030”.
