AKIPRESS.COM - Seventeen law enforcement officials from Turkmenistan participated in an OSCE-organized training course on examination and detection at borders that concluded today in Turkmenabat, a city in the east of Turkmenistan.

The five-day practical course brought together officials from the State Customs Service, the State Border Service and the State Service to protect the Security of a Healthy Society, with the aim of enhancing their capabilities to interdict drugs and chemical precursors, the OSCE said in a release on May 1.

“Transnational threats, especially related to organized crime, remain high on the agenda for the Central Asian region. As the OSCE is successfully taking the lead in training law enforcement officials throughout the region, the Centre in Ashgabat is organizing activities to facilitate the regular exchange of modern techniques to address different aspects of transnational security threats,” said Richard Wheeler, Officer-in-Charge of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

The training course was conducted by trainers from the OSCE and the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and presented the OSCE Border Security Management Concept, common security challenges and modern ways of trafficking drugs and chemical, biological and radiological substances.

The trainers highlighted the specifics of examining persons, their belongings, different vehicles and shipment containers and the use of non-intrusive technologies. Integrity and its impact on combating cross-border crime as well as personal risks facing law enforcement officers were also discussed.

The agenda of the course combined in-class theoretical sessions and practical exercises on search and detection procedures held at the Farap border customs point.