Bolivia trains 120 police officers against narco-terrorism on Brazil border
Around 120 lieutenants and sergeants will receive elite training at Anapol in La Paz from Monday onwards, as part of the 'Secure Borders Plan'.
Elite course at Anapol to curb organised crime in border territories
More than one hundred officers from the Bolivian Police will begin a specialised course next Monday to combat crime in territories bordering Brazil, according to El Deber. The programme, focused on "narco-terrorism", will start at the National Police Academy (Anapol), based in La Paz, and will involve around 120 newly graduated agents.
The vice-minister for Internal Affairs, Police Strengthening and Transparency, Peter Maldonado, confirmed to the media that the participating lieutenants and sergeants will be posted, once training is completed, to four regions of the border strip with Brazil. According to Maldonado, who took charge of the vice-ministry on Wednesday, this corridor is the point where the most "narco-terrorism" problems have been registered in the country.
The initiative is part of the so-called 'Secure Borders Plan', launched in August by the Government of Rodrigo Paz to strengthen control in areas deemed "critical" and contain the advance of organised crime. The plan emerged following a wave of violence in the Santa Cruz department—the most populated in Bolivia—which included the shooting deaths of four civilians and an intelligence officer during the same month.
The Government attributes much of these crimes to the dispute between Brazilian criminal organisations First Command of the Capital (PCC) and Red Command (CV) for control of drug-trafficking routes on the shared border. This conflict has escalated violence in Bolivian areas of the Chiquitania and the Amazon.
Maldonado added that the strategy also contemplates "active participation of the civilian population". With that aim, a working table will be organised with sectors operating in border territories, among them Brazil nut producers, livestock farmers, "mototaxistas" and traders.
In parallel, the Paz Government announced a few weeks ago that Brazil's Federal Police will shortly open a permanent office in Bolivia to intensify cooperation against criminal organisations and accelerate the exchange of information between both countries.
Last week, the Interior Minister, Marco Antonio Oviedo, announced the creation of two elite units in areas near the Brazil border, with United States support, aimed specifically at combating violence linked to drug-trafficking.
Source: El Deber