TRAINING PROGRAMME ON COMBATING CRIME HELD IN ACCRA (Centre Spread0

19/08/2008
Story: Mary Mensah
A five-day training programme aimed at combating drug trade, money laundering and organised crime in Ghana by the use of a common Software Application System (SAS) has ended in Accra.
The programme was organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in collaboration with INTERPOL and the US Department of Justice.
Participants were drawn from the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and detectives from the Republic of Togo.
Closing the training in Accra, the Chairman of the NACOB Board, Gen (rtd) Joshua Hamidu, called on the security agencies to share intelligence in order to combat the drug menace.
He said people involved in the drug trade were dangerous and heartless, conducted their activities in secrecy and were willing to do anything to have their way.
He said due to the nature of their work, there was the need for NACOB officials, the police, Customs, Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS), Immigration and other security agencies to collaborate in the fight against drug trafficking.
The chairman, therefore, called on them to involve themselves in serious intelligence gathering and sharing.
Gen Hamidu said, “as investigators you will become vulnerable with lots of money being put before you to influence you but you must be firm in order to overcome such temptations, the welfare of the nation must be your priority”.
He urged participants to share whatever knowledge they had acquired with their colleagues in order to bring the drug situation in the country under control.
According to Mr Vincent Davies from the INTERPOL Secretariat in Lyon, France, using the new database called the Real Time Analytical Intelligence Database (RAID) would enable Ghana share information on drug trafficking, money laundering and other related crimes within the West African sub-region.
Mr Davies said the RAID facility had been installed at the premise of the NACOB to exploit information and build cases on organised crimes.
He said the facility which included computers, scanners, telephone and other gadgets would record key pieces of information and would quickly identify links among people, places, businesses, financial accounts and telephone numbers, among other things.
On his part, Mr Mark Nolta, one of the trainers from the US Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence said RAID would provide a common platform for security agencies from all countries in the sub-region to fight organised crimes.
He said already the device had been used in over 700 investigations in the US and had assisted in the arrest of several criminals and organised groups.
He expressed the hope that the device would help countries in the sub-region to fight drug traffickers and other dangerous crimes.