OSCE Mission to Skopje helps train border police and customs officers

SKOPJE, 15 October 2007 - More then 240 border police and customs officers from all over the country learned the latest in drug identification and interviewing techniques through a series of OSCE Mission-supported workshops, the last of which ended today in Ohrid.

The workshops, which were conducted by local trainers from the border police, are organized by the Interior Ministry with support from the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, and financed by the United States Embassy.

Philip Tolson, Head of the OSCE Mission's Police Development Unit, said: "It is important that the Interior Ministry has strengthened its in-house training capacity. Officers trained by the Mission in earlier workshops are now educating their colleagues on the specifics of identifying different drugs, ways of transportation and routes."

Goran Gjorgjievski, Inspector from the Department for Control and Investigations at the Customs Administration added: "I learned a lot not only about new types of drugs but also better understood that our close co-operation with the border police is essential for our efficiency."