DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY HEADS IN LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN TO MEET AT BUENOS ARIES, 29 SEPTEMBER
Press Release
SOC/NAR/768
DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY HEADS IN LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN TO MEET AT BUENOS ARIES, 29 SEPTEMBER
19970915 VIENNA, 12 September (UN Information Service) -- New developments in drug abuse and trafficking trends, as well as the status of cooperation among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, will be the focus of attention when top law enforcement, customs and criminal justice officials from the region gather in Buenos Aires on 29 September. The Eighth Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA) -- a subsidiary body of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs -- will also examine issues concerning:-- an upsurge in the production and abuse of synthetic drugs -- psychoactive substances which can be manufactured in clandestine laboratories from chemicals readily available in most countries. The problem for law enforcement is to prevent the diversion of legitimate substances into illicit channels. In the past, the agencies combating drug crime have mainly been oriented to interdicting cannabis, cocaine and heroin.
-- changing structures and methodology of drug-trafficking organizations. Authorities are facing new cartel leaders, new technologies put to criminal use and criminal networks in control of financial empires.
-- the need for effective investigative techniques. Participants will share experiences in using the technique of controlled delivery, through various jurisdictions, to trap criminals. They will also share experiences in such areas as handling informants and managing undercover operations.
The Meeting's recommendations on these matters will be presented to the next session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which meets each spring in Vienna to provide policy guidance to the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP).
The member States of HONLEA, Latin America and the Caribbean, are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Its associate members in the region are: Anguilla, Aruba, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands.
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