CCLEC – Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council – Page 3

Capacity Building

Continually strengthening our human and physical capital through strategic planning and sustained training.

Information Technology

Realizing the vision of a highly networked Customs through the implementation of modern ICT solutions.

Border Protection

Promoting compliance to enhance global trade and travel through enhanced border security initiatives

Valuation

Facilitating fairness and transparency through systematic and standardized controls.

Cannabis DNA database being developed

Enforcement, GeneralBy Aaron Smith January 9, 2017

A genetic science project which aims to sequence the DNA of every strain of marijuana in the world could also benefit police forces across the globe, making it easier to identify both national and international smuggling networks.

The database could enable law enforcement agencies to track the source of shipments and provide a direct link between importers and lower-level sellers.

Pylos Bioscience, based in Portland, Oregon, was founded in 2015 by microbiologist Mowgli Holmes to bring more consistency to the recreational marijuana and medical marijuana business. The drug is currently legal in eight states for recreational use and available for medical use in a further 21 states.

Phylos has 17 full-time employees and has put together a collection of cannabis strains that includes rare, ancient, specimens from museums and herbariums in Thailand, Colombia, and a dozen other countries including the UK. Marijuana breeders and private collectors from around the world have also contributed samples from their personal stashes.

Nov262016

New border control unit to improve efficiency – Saint Lucia

General, NewsBy Aaron Smith November 26, 2016

The Customs and Immigration departments along with the Marine Unit will soon form a new entity, the Border Control Unit.

The Border Control Unit will significantly augment the operations of Saint Lucia’s airports and seaports, Minister for Home Affairs, Justice and National Security, Sen. Hon. Hermangild Francis said.

All officers assigned to the unit will receive training.

“Two senior officers—one, a former comptroller of Customs and the other, a senior immigration officer—are tasked with making the recommendations,” Sen. Francis said. “As a tourist destination, we must make the transitions from the airplane or ship to the waiting bus a much quicker process.”

The Border Control Unit is expected to be launched in 2017.

Nov242016

Guadeloupe: Nearly 50 kilos of cocaine found in a fish container

Enforcement, NewsBy Aaron Smith November 24, 2016

DRUG The estimated value for resale of this merchandise, on the European continent, is around 1.7 million euros …

Guadeloupe customs officers have made a stunning discovery. Saturday night, they seized nearly 50 kilos of cocaine in a container of fish, in the port area of Jarry in Baie-Mahault.

“It was almost a routine check that led to that seizure” said Jean-Damien Moustier, Head of the Caribbean branch of Ocrtis, the Central Office for the Suppression of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics: the drug was concealed in a refrigerated container that had been damaged. As a result of this refrigeration problem, the container, proceeding from Surinam, loaded with frozen fish destined to Belgium, was “diverted” and checked by the Raizet Customs Surveillance Brigade.

Nov242016

Mexican Army seizes more than 220 kilos of cocaine in port Manzanillo

Enforcement, NewsBy Aaron Smith November 24, 2016

The drug was hidden inside heavy rollers to grind stone.

Mexico City, November 8, 2016.-

The Army-Navy Secretariat of Mexico reports that personnel assigned to the Sixth Naval Region secured yesterday at the port of Manzanillo, Colima, over 220 kilograms of a substance showing characteristics of cocain. This substance was concealed inside the rollers of a crushing machine, which was loaded aboard the ship “Laura Maersk”, Denmark flag. The final destination was the port of Manzanillo.

This action was achieved as a result of naval intelligence work. Combined efforts between staff of the Secretariat of the Navy and the Maritime Customs of Manzanillo led to the inspection of the container with canine teams, which confirmed the said illicit cargo was transported inside the rollers of the stone crushing machine, where 130 brick-shaped packages and three bags containing bulk drug were located.

Nov172016

St Kitts Hosted the CCLEC Executive Committee (EXCO) Meeting

Meetings, NewsBy Aaron Smith November 17, 2016

Exco Meeting

The St Kitts and Nevis Customs and Excise Division hosted the EXCO meeting from November 8-9, 2016. Customs Comptrollers and representatives from fourteen nations were present at the meeting including Canada and the USA.
The meeting considered a number of initiatives including:

The draft treaty

Organizational change
Implementation of RCS2016 and SailClear
Implementation of a customs valuation risk database
Development and accreditation of CCLEC’s training modules
MOUs with strategic partners

The CCLEC which was established in the 1970s has been operating as an informal organisation however it is actively pursuing the formalization of the organisation through a treaty. This is an issue of monumental significance for the organization as it seeks to increase support for its programmes through donor funding and enhance information sharing.

Aug22016

Customs seize over 2500 pounds of marijuana in container

Enforcement, NewsBy Aaron Smith August 2, 2016

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Members of the Jamaica Customs Agency’s Contraband Enforcement Team (CET) seized a shipment of marijuana concealed in a container at the Kingston port yesterday.

The agency in a press release today said that the CET along with the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s, Narcotics Division were carrying out routine inspection of containers, where seal-discrepancies were detected and further examination of the containers resulted in the detection of 11 duffle bags containing 338 packages with substance resembling vegetable matter.

Subsequent tests confirmed that the substance was marijuana weighing 2525.8lbs with an estimated street value of over J$8 million. The matter is being investigated by the Border Protection Unit of the Agency and the Narcotics Division.

UPCOMING EVENTS

RECENT FORUM ACTIVITY

SLIDE SHOW

Document Library

	File	Date
1.	Monthly Intel Report - June 2018 (Spanish)	25-07-2018 14:22
2.	Monthly Intel Report - June 2018	25-07-2018 14:19
3.	Monthly Intel Report - May 2018 (Spanish)	25-07-2018 14:18
4.	Monthly Intel Report - May 2018	25-07-2018 14:17
5.	Monthly Intel Report - April 2018	25-07-2018 14:16

CCLEC AT A GLANCE

CCLEC’s commitment to capacity building is evident through sustained investments in regional Customs staff. CCLEC recognizes that the fulfillment of its mission and objectives is dependent on the strength and capabilities of this most precious resource. This commitment to training began as early as 1993 through participation with the WCO in the Diagnostic Study. Following this, some seven member countries benefited from Customs Reform Modernization (CRM) programs completed by CCLEC.

As part of its pledge to developing leadership, in 2014, CCLEC introduced the Management Training Program, through a Certificate in Customs Management and the Executive Diploma in Customs Management facilitated by Charles Sturt University in Australia.

In 2016 CCLEC launched its eLearning platform dedicated to the delivery of the two-tier training, providing introductory Customs courses as well as training in Trade Facilitation. Over the years, CCLEC has reiterated the need to effectively develop the skills and knowledge of staff. The organization maintains its C2C training commitment through the inclusion of a Training Needs Analysis Form located on its website.

The fight against the illegal drug trade remains a key focus of CCLEC and was the basis for its formation. CCLEC recognizes that illegal activity such as illegal drug smuggling; human trafficking; and money laundering adversely affects economic growth and sustainability. The Illegal drug trade in particular, severely threatens health and social life. Based on statistics collected from law enforcement agencies, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that between 2013 and 2014, over 293,962 kilos of illegal drugs were seized in the Caribbean region. Of these, marijuana amounted to over 47,486 kilos. In 2016, Guadeloupe Customs Officers discovered some 50 kilos of cocaine in a fish container around the port area. These statistics reflect the urgency to strengthen border controls; to tighten security at ports and coastal areas in the Caribbean. CCLEC continually researches initiatives and is keen on on the adoption of emerging technologies to increase security.

CCLEC’s law enforcement arm employs assimilated information communication technology networks to combat impending threats. Crisis prevention and crisis management are the overarching aims of its intelligence models. These are realized through a number of key strategies, namely:

Effective information-seeking strategies
Monitoring and early detection
Information sharing
Swift data collection
Interpretation and analysis
Intelligence and law enforcement training

CCLEC views the development of intelligence structures as an integral block in its capacity building.

Collaboration is essential to the effectiveness of any organization. Over the years, CCLEC has maintained ties with regional and international bodies and has forged partnerships with some sixteen global agencies. CCLEC’s linkages extend to all actors in global trade and travel: government, business, academia and the citizenry. Collaboration is both extensive and rewarding. Opportunities exist to establish best practices and crisis prevention is achieved by drawing from existing case studies and research. CCLEC has drawn from additional benefits of collaboration among them training, information-sharing, short and long-term planning, bilateral agreements, and policy formation and implementation.