Border Security Matters Aug 2014

Spannish Civil Guard detain 44 persons
belonging to drug trafficking gang
The detainees, specialized in trafficking hashish from
Morocco to sell in the entertainment areas of the province
of Cádiz.
The Civil Guard Cádiz proceeded to exploit the “OLIVETTI”
operation, in which it has dismantled a criminal
organization dedicated to the introduction of hashish in
the form of acorns, for further distribution and sale. This
active criminal group, running 14 drug outlets located in
the Bay of Cadiz, which the Civil Guard dismantled after the
operation.
The objective of this organization was to get enough
capital to organize hashish stash of greater significance
for introduction by sea. During the research phase were 11
aborted shipments of narcotics and the arrest of 18 people
who were acting as couriers. To them must be added the 26
detainees that were arrested during the operation in July.
SEF detects drug couriers at Lisbon’s
Airport
On the course of document check procedures carried out
yesterday, when arriving to national territory, four foreign
citizens where intercepted by SEF’s officers. The citizens
traveled in two different flights from Brazil: two of them on
the flight from Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and the other two
from Brasilia.
The Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF
- Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras) detected at the
Lisbon’s Airport border four foreign citizens suspected of
carrying narcotics.
On the course of document check procedures carried out
yesterday, when arriving to national territory, four foreign
citizens where intercepted by SEF’s officers. The citizens
traveled in two different flights from Brazil: two of them on
the flight from Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and the other two
from Brasilia.
Due to the joint work of SEF and the Portuguese Tax and
Customs Authority (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira), it
was possible to confirm that the citizens were in possession
of narcotic products, which were identically disguised
(hidden around their waist), on a total of 9,98kg of cocaine
distributed equally by the four passengers.
The citizens were authorized to enter national territory with
the purpose of being escorted to Court.
Additionally, during yesterday’s afternoon, two other
foreign citizens were arrested, based on the information
provided by SEF, collected during the interviews carried
out by the Lisbon’s Airport Border Post to the four arrested
citizens.
It is the first time that there is a joint operation at Lisbon’s
Airport with foreign citizens arriving in different flights, yet
with the same modus operandis.
Australian National Border Targeting
Centre launched
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the
Hon Scott Morrison, recently opened the National Border
Targeting Centre (NBTC), a 24/7 operations centre, bringing
together nine border, law enforcement, national intelligence
and regulatory partner agencies to analyse and target
high-risk passengers and cargo within the Strategic Border
Command.
Minister Morrison said the NBTC—which recently came into
operational effect on 1 July as part of border protection
reforms—will boost national security and law enforcement
agencies’ capability to generate actionable intelligence to
support highly trained officers on the ground to physically
detect and stop threats from entering Australia.
‘The NBTC will provide a national, holistic approach to
combat serious and organised crime which is responsible for
smuggling illegal drugs, guns, bio-security, national security
and immigrations risks through cargo and traveller arrival
points,’ Minister Morrison said.
‘It will support agencies to maintain vigilance at the border
to manage the exponential growth in trade and travel;
handle more complex cargo supply chains and passenger
travel routes.
‘The NBTC is a key component of Strategic Border
Command, which was launched on 3 July, as a cornerstone
of border protection reforms within the Australian Customs
and Border Protection Service.
‘The Strategic Border Command is the border brain and
nerve centre of our border protection operation.
‘The Coalition Government has invested a further $256.6
million on intelligence and systems to support the NBTC’s
connectivity and security. Without this broader investment
the $30 million provided to set up the NBTC would have
made it little more than a shell operation.
Border Security Matters
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