Features

Counternarcotics Training Efforts in Maldives

Joint Interagency Task Force West

The Republic of Maldives — a nation composed of a chain of 26 atolls with 1,192 islands — is one of the world’s most geographically dispersed countries. Though Maldives is home to fewer than 400,000 inhabitants, it receives almost twice its population in visitors annually. With tourism as the source of 90 percent of the country’s tax revenue, Maldives does not require visitors to obtain a visa before arrival, regardless of their country of origin.

This internationally friendly stance toward visitors comes with a price. To protect the nation from myriad challenges ranging from drug trafficking to arms proliferation, Maldives have an active military comprised of a Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Special Forces, Service Corps and a Corps of Engineers that all fall under the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).

The MNDF has a multifaceted mission. It protects Maldives’ territorial waters and marine environment, conducts search and rescue and salvage operations, enforces maritime law, provides VIP and convoy protection and conducts coastal surveillance. The task is daunting given the nations’ 200 inhabited islands span 55,297 square kilometers, and the MNDF must police them from only 50 substations.

MNDF Special Forces and Coast Guard members conduct counternarcotics training with a member of the U.S. military. [Capt. JASON LANORE/U.S. ARMY]
In recent years, Maldives has experienced a rise in criminal activity from gangs selling heroin from Asia as well as the smuggling of alcohol in contravention of Muslim law. In addition to the rise in criminal activity, the MNDF also has to contend with violence by radicalized individuals who return to the capital, Male, after having studied abroad. Though there have been no documented terrorist attacks in Maldives since the September 29, 2007, bombing of Sultan Park in downtown Male — where 12 foreign tourists died from a blast carried out by a Maldivian terrorist with ties to Pakistan — concerns are growing over the proliferation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council states in its 2017 Sri Lanka and Maldives crime and safety report that a number of Maldivian nationals have traveled to Syria to join ISIS.

To help thwart drug-related activities of transnational criminal organizations, the MNDF has been working with U.S. PACOM’s executive agent for counterdrug programs, Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West). Since 2010, JIATF West has supported Maldives law enforcement and military efforts through special counter narco terrorism (CNT) and maritime law enforcement training. To develop the training programs, coordination with Maldives was done through the Office of Defense Cooperation’s Counter Terrorism Capacity Building Program — part of the U.S. Sri Lanka – Maldives Embassy in Colombo.

To provide the niche skills training needed in CNT work, JIATF West teamed up with interagency partners such as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency to train members of MNDF Marines and Coast Guard, and the Maldives Police Department. In addition to law enforcement techniques training, tactical skills are also part of the JIATF West CNT program with courses led by a cadre of Pacific Special Operation Forces Maritime members. The training was designed to give participants the opportunity to practice reacting to various trafficking scenarios including drug, weapons, human trafficking and piracy. Training initiatives cover a wide range of law enforcement and counterterrorism skills including such topics as intelligence analysis techniques, interview techniques, small boat handling, tactical combat casualty care, marksmanship training, visit, board, search and seizure, room clearing, mission planning and sensitive site exploitation (SSE).

Beginning in 2013, JIATF West added a series of trainings that combined law enforcement and maritime skills together known as Integrated Maritime Skills or IMS. The IMS team comprised of U.S. Coast Guard and Navy Reservists who have unique backgrounds in both law enforcement and maritime maintenance. “The IMS team provides a critical bridge in skills development at the basic operator level, allowing security force partners to build competency to a level where U.S. military trainers can provide advanced training,” said Tom Wood of JIATF West’s Commanders Action Group.

The most recent round of CNT training called “Fusion Metal” took place in early February 2017, with MNDF Marine and Coast Guard units in the Laamu atoll, Maldives largest atoll. The four-week evolution encompassed a range CNT training including tactical skills, weapons handling, marksmanship, visit board search and seizure, SSE, prisoner handling and mission planning. The goal of the Fusion Metal training evolution was for MNDF members to develop expertise with compliant and noncompliant boarding, develop standard operating procedures, and learn to conduct thorough SSE to support counternarcotics operations.

“The security situation in the Indian Ocean is changing,” explained Col. Mohammed Ibrahim, MNDF Coast Guard Commander, also a U.S. Naval Academy graduate. “And the threats the Maldives are facing will be shared with other regional countries.”

Since 2010, JIATF West has conducted 15 various counternarcotics training events in Maldives and trained over 500 law enforcement and MNDF members.


Tactical Training Center Launches in Thailand

Joint Interagency Task Force West

Construction began in December 2016 on an indoor tactical training center in the Thai town of Nong Sarai in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

U.S. Pacific Command’s counterdrug task force, Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West), is sponsoring the U.S. $2 million-plus project in support of Royal Thai Police (RTP) counterdrug efforts.

The building, which is to be completed by the end of June 2017, will provide the police with a 7,200-square-meter, state-of-the-art indoor tactical training facility that will be part of a 304-hectare training complex called the Royal Thai Police National Training Center. The large building is needed to house a simulated town that will provide an urban setting for police officers to practice tactical maneuvers day and night regardless of outdoor weather conditions.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command

RTP has had a long and cooperative partnership with JIATF West since it began providing counternarcotics training in Thailand in 1994. To date JIATF West has conducted over 160 training missions with more than 8,000 police officers in Thailand.

The project is a joint effort of the U.S. Embassy’s Law Enforcement Working Group and the RTP Police Education Bureau. The working group includes the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Diplomatic Security, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

The building dedication was part of a ceremony celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Royal Thai Police Central Tactical Training Center. Presiding over the ceremony was Police Gen. Adul Saengsingkaew, minister of social development and welfare and former commissioner general of the Royal Thai Police. Police Commissioner Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda and Police Maj. Gen. Sornkrit Kaewpalek, deputy commissioner of the Police Education Bureau, also attended.

The ceremony included a tour of the RTP Central Tactical Training Center, a tree planting ceremony, remarks by Gen. Chakthip and U.S. Ambassador Glyn Davies. “The United States has been, and will remain, a strong partner in fostering the joint law enforcement relationship between our two countries. Projects such as this will serve as the cornerstone of this relationship for years to come,” Davies said.


JIATF West Adds Scanning Ability to Mae Sai Border Crossing

Joint Interagency Task Force West

Mae Sai, Thailand’s northernmost city, is nestled in the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Laos, Burma and Thailand meet. Across the border is the Burmese town of Tachileik, frequented by travelers who leave their passports with the immigration office. They are free to stay within Tachileik and the surrounding district of Kengtung for up to 14 days without having to obtain a visa.

The Mae Sai-Tachileik border is the busiest crossing point between the two countries and an increasingly popular transit point for transnational criminal organizations moving illicit narcotics, according to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC).

Thai authorities estimate that more than a billion pills of methamphetamine (called yaa baa, or crazy medicine) are trafficked across the borders of Thailand and Burma annually. In addition to the trafficking of meth, other drugs such as heroin and precursor chemicals, human trafficking takes place through both official land checkpoints and informal crossings. The Golden Triangle is famous for the production of opium.

The region’s porous borders and shallow river crossings between Tachileik and Mae Sai allow traffickers and migrants to wade across the Sai River during the dry season. UNODC estimates that 450,000 migrants are smuggled into Thailand, with one-third moving through official checkpoints.

People cross the border bridge between Mae Sai, Thailand, and Tachileik, Burma. During the dry season, traffickers and migrants can wade across the Sai River.
JIATF West

To support the counterdrug efforts of Thai customs and border officials, U.S. Pacific Command’s counterdrug task force, Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West), has undertaken an initiative to improve security in the northern border region of Thailand.

One component of JIATF West’s initiative is to rebuild the Mae Sai Customs House X-Ray Center and incorporate the border crossing’s first full-body scanner. The improvements will have a significant impact, according to Scott Hawman, JIATF West’s base development program manager.

“For a relatively small amount of money — we’re talking a few hundred thousand dollars — we’ll be drastically improving the ability of Mae Sai Customs and Border officials to interdict illicit drugs,” Hawman said.

JIATF West estimates that more than 1,000 people a day travel through the Mae Sai-Tachileik checkpoint.

The project became operational on December 1, 2016, and includes gutting the existing building and adding a new structure that will include interview rooms, changing rooms, evidence storage, an administrative room and a full-body scanner. U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command is overseeing the construction, which was nearing completion in May of 2017.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button