The United States Embassy has recently conducted a five-day training course that is intended to support Guyana’s efforts to interdict illicit firearms and ammunition at major ports of entry, and to strengthen its border controls.
Conducted through the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the World Customs Organization (WCO), this course has benefitted the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), being the second phase of Project Bolt, a joint programme between INL and the WCO.
A release from the US Embassy in Georgetown on Tuesday has said that, throughout this exercise, participants received practical training, and presentations were made by experts from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; US Customs Border and Protection; INTERPOL, and the WCO.
Moreover, topics in the training included firearms’ tracing, methods of illicit export, global and regional trends in small arms and light weapons’ detection, weapons identification and their components, forensic handling, vehicle search techniques, and emerging threats.
The US Embassy and INL have also equipped the GRA with specialized equipment, including density meters, metal detection wands, and tool kits.
When this training exercise began on November 4, Chargé d’ Affaires of the US Embassy, Adrienne Galanek, highlighted the cooperation that exists between the United States and Guyana to combat illicit firearms’ trafficking and ensure stable and secure communities in the Caribbean, and noted that the US Government works closely with local and regional partners, through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to fund initiatives like Project Bolt, “which deepen our security partnership with the Government of Guyana, while also directly tackling the illicit proliferation of firearms and ammunition in the region.”
Further, she affirmed, “The United States believes strongly that we must take an active role in addressing this shared responsibility, and remain committed to supporting Guyana’s front-line Customs officers with the necessary tools and knowledge to do their jobs effectively.”
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