Some of the busiest employees work in the Law Enforcement Training Branch within the Training and Assistance Division. The Law Enforcement Training Branch has the task of coordinating and presenting narcotics interdiction training in countries where the need is greatest. U.S. Customs inspectors in Ecuador have just finished an interdiction training course for law enforcement officials there, and already, the effort is paying off in important ways.

For some time, Colombia's neighbors have been suffering from the overflow of guerrillas, weapons, and illicit drug movements - a natural response on the part of traffickers to aggressive eradication programs in Colombia and other strategies designed to squeeze and eliminate drug production in that country. For countries that border Colombia, Ecuador in particular, the results have been serious - in some cases, officials are struggling to maintain sovereign control of their borders, and everywhere, small villages and people living near the Colombian border have come under the influence and power of guerrilla groups.

Fighting back
The National Police Anti-Narcotics Division, with material assistance from the United States Embassy Narcotics Affairs Section in Quito, Ecuador, was determined to develop a new, highly mobile strike force to fight back. Snipers were making it impossible for the Anti-Narcotics Division to work the border effectively, and it was time for new ideas. A strike force, consisting of several different mobile teams, seemed to be an answer. A strike force could quickly move in, establish a checkpoint, operate for a short while, and just as quickly move back out.

In February 2001, the plan became a reality. Seventy-three National Police cadets attended four weeks of classroom training to learn the laws, policies, and procedures governing the Anti-Narcotics Division. After graduating from the basic police academy in Quito, they began their advanced training for this new mobile project. The cadets were transferred to a remote checkpoint station on one of the two highways leading out of Colombia. At Baeza checkpoint, the students began six weeks of further study combined with frequent practical applications on-site. The final two weeks provided an opportunity for U.S. Customs to provide drug interdiction training - focusing largely on targeting, risk assessment, officer safety, and concealment techniques.

The training team, all land border inspectors with many years of experience, included Dixie Faries, team leader and program coordinator from the Office of International Affairs; Richard Walker, Chief Inspector, El Paso; Hector Mancha, Senior Enforcement Coordinator, Laredo; Alejandro Otero, Supervisory Customs Inspector, El Paso; Eduardo Tijerina, Supervisory Customs Inspector, Laredo; and Nestor Garza, Supervisory Customs Inspector, Hidalgo.

Ocelots and cocaine
An exercise at a border checkpoint during the final week of training gave the students an opportunity to make three seizures of prohibited live animals from the jungle: a baby ocelot and two parrots. It was a nice seizure, but ocelots and parrots were not what the team had set out to find. Success came the following day - the day prior to graduation. Again, three separate seizures, but this time they were all cocaine base, a total of 38 kg.

In one seizure, traffickers had wrapped the rocks of cocaine base in elongated shapes to resemble the feel of the yucca hearts with which they were commingled. The second seizure revealed two heavily taped square packages thrown into a bag of seed corn. The third seizure was a kidney-shaped package also concealed within a bag of produce. The team had hit the jackpot, and it was impossible to tell who was more excited - the instructors or their students.

Graduation day
Graduation on April 12, 2001, was a memorable occasion. Ecuadorian news reporters were on hand to cover the event. Speakers included the General of the National Police and the Deputy Chief of Mission from the United States Embassy in Quito, and instructors and students were finally able to enjoy the recognition and praise they had worked so hard to achieve.

But the story does not end there. On their first day back at work following graduation, the first mobile strike team to make an incursion into the dangerous frontier area returned to base with another significant seizure - 320 kg of cocaine.

The successes of these new anti-narcotics forces are clearly paying dividends, and are helping to complement the police force in Ecuador.