On Tuesday (10 July 2019), His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Martyn Roper attended and spoke to recruits on the first day of a 21-week training course for 11 new Customs and Border Control (CBC) officers. 

The new recruits will be trained in a wide array of subjects including, but not limited to; the relevant laws, interviewing techniques, statement writing, the collection and handling of evidence, the fundamentals of the international import/export/transhipment process, inclusive of invoicing, fraud as well as the physical control and restraint of persons. 

On the completion of the course the officers will be posted to a variety of roles within the new CBC organisation.

CBC is currently going through a transformation to bring together the former roles of customs and immigration, and to focus the organisation on serious and organised crime threats, including the smuggling of narcotics, firearms and serious financial crime. 

New procedures and techniques are being introduced to enable CBC to operate on an intelligence led basis with the assistance of new technology and cooperation from the airlines. 

It is hoped that the new procedures will lead to faster processing of passengers at Owen Roberts International Airport and clarify the procedures for arriving passengers, including the discontinuation of customs declaration forms for passengers with no goods to declare.

The Governor also witnessed a training exercise by CBC’s K9 Unit as they searched the Customs warehouse for contraband. The Unit has recently acquired a number of new dogs from the UK which are trained to detect a host of things including drugs/narcotics, firearms and currency. There are plans to increase the size and capabilities of the unit in the near future and a further three dogs are due to arrive.

The Governor said: “I was impressed with the commitment of the new recruits.  The in-depth and intensive training they will receive will help them to work on the front line of our national security.  The strengthening of CBC, including the impressive K9 Unit, will help to deliver a new approach to border security at a time when the threats facing us are changing and expanding.  We are already beginning to see the value of this new approach with some successful seizures of narcotics and the illicit proceeds of crime.  I am also pleased that the UK Border Force secondee is making an important contribution as we shift into the intelligence led approach.”

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Photos by: Martha Connolly & Jamie Hicks

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 – The Governor spoke to 11 new CBC recruits on the first day of their 21-week training course.

Photo 2 – The Governor also met with members of the CBC’s K9 Unit.

Photo 3 – During the visit the CBC’s K9 Unit conducted a training exercise.