Drug Trafficking in the Mediterranean

Close collaboration between the CEPOL Unit of the Hellenic Police Academy and the CEPOL Secretariat’s Euromed Team led to the successful implementation of a Euromed Police II Project Seminar that addressed “Modern investigative techniques of fighting Drug Trafficking along the Mediterranean Sea”.

The seminar aimed at enhancing senior police officers’ knowledge of modern drug investigation techniques through presentations, work groups and on site visits whilst making a substantial contribution to the fight against drug trafficking by developing concrete cooperation potentiality.

Held in Athens, Greece, on 24 - 30 April 2010, the seminar attracted 24 participants from 6 MEDA Countries (Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Morocco and Jordan).

Led by thirteen experts from four Member States (The Netherlands, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece) and a further two experts from MEDA countries (Jordan and Morocco) the participants were guided through the seminar’s main objectives:

• Understanding aspects of international and national drug trafficking phenomena
• Identifying existing forms of international and national cooperation
• Gaining practical approaches to the combat of drug trafficking and the use of best practices, through case studies
• Exploring further investigation techniques

The Seminar’s programme was an excellent mixture of well-structured content, prepared during a successful preparatory meeting, and a rich social events schedule. The extremely positive feedback gathered from the evaluation of the seminar shows that the participants appreciated all aspects (administration, organisation, content and cooperation) of this Euromed Police II Project seminar.

During the closing ceremony Mr. Georgios Balagkas, Director of the Hellenic Police Academy and the Course Manager of the Euromed Project, Mr. Peter Davidson presented certificates to the participants.