A few days ago, the seminar on “Maritime drug trafficking and impact on the country’s image” was held, an activity organized by Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP) at the NH Hotel.
The objective of the event was to seek prevention measures, as well as to increase cooperation and coordination between the actors in the sector.
In this framework, the director of the State Intelligence Secretariat, Álvaro Garcé, highlighted the “opportunities” and “challenges” that the country has ahead of it.
“Maritime drug trafficking is part of drug trafficking and this, in turn, is part of organized crime, which challenges us as a country. As a State we must improve in the prevention, dissuasion and repression of organized crime. For that, more investment is needed, more resources,” said Garcé.
Likewise, the director of the State Intelligence Secretariat pointed out that Uruguay works at a strategic level in the fight against drug trafficking by sea, as well as tactically.
Pointing out the need for greater investment, he recalled that the State acquired two ocean patrol vessels “OPV boats” and three “Protector” boats, which will pass into the orbit of the Navy in order to have a greater presence in the waters and contribute to a better deterrent.
traffic modalities
For his part, Marcelo Wilson, TCP Protection Risk Manager, referred to the different forms of drug trafficking by sea.
“One way is when the cargo is ‘contaminated’ at origin, in another the contamination occurs on board, and a third option, this can happen in a ship or terminal. The drug can go in the load, those commodities that require a lot of volume of movement, also in specific loads, and creativity flies there: drugs have been found inside rocks or scrap metal. Also the container itself is a place to put the drug. Another way is that the container on its way from origin to destination, in any of its stages, is opened, the load is opened and the drug is inserted, twin seals are put on, then some controls are altered there, disguising that the container was opened. ”, he exemplified.
