TOAMASINA, Madagascar – An INTERPOL training course in Madagascar aimed to enhance the ability of local law enforcement to conduct effective maritime crime scene investigations.
Some 26 participants from the forensic, border and port police, Navy, Gendarmerie and port authorities took part in the five-day (18-22 April) training course, held in collaboration with Forensic Consulting France.
Along with training in techniques to collect evidence in maritime environments, the participants were trained in the use of INTERPOL’s policing capabilities including the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) gateway, the INTERPOL Firearms Reference Table (IFRT) and the INTERPOL Illicit Arms Records and tracing Management System (iARMS). International standards on the exchange of biometric data were also discussed.
INTERPOL, through its Project CRIMLEA, also provided crime scene collection kits and digital cameras to the participating agencies.
Additionally, the participants visited the hospital ship Africa Mercy, where the captain and head of security briefed them on vessel safety and security and the rules of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
The training course was organized under Project CRIMLEA (Critical Maritime Routes Law Enforcement Agency), a six-year programme financed by the European Union Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace and implemented by INTERPOL as part of the EU's Critical Maritime Routes Programme.
Project CRIMLEA aims at reinforcing forensic and investigative capacities of law enforcement agencies from nine countries bordering the western Indian Ocean – Comoros, Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Yemen – to investigate and ultimately prosecute acts of piracy and other maritime-based organized crime threats.