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Vessel search course enhances maritime security

The Australian Border Force (ABF) last week delivered a vessel search course to a group of Customs and Immigration officers from a number of Pacific nations, aimed at enhancing regional maritime security.

The training focused on undertaking effective risk assessments and how to board and safely search suspect vessels for smuggled drugs, weapons and other goods.

Funded through the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s International Border Cooperation Program (IBCP), the course prepares participants to conduct a safe search of a merchant vessel, a pleasure craft or a fishing vessel and their onboard areas such as decks, galleys, bridges and engine rooms.

In the last two years, the ABF has helped intercept a number of small and medium vessels attempting to smuggle illicit narcotics aboard. This includes Australia’s biggest cocaine interception of 1.4 tonnes concealed in a yacht in January this year.

The ABF continues to target all of the different methods criminals try to use to illegally import drugs and other illicit goods into Australia, including the use of small craft vessels across the South Pacific.

A/g Assistant Commissioner Border Force Capability, Rachel Houghton, said the ABF was pleased to contribute to developing stronger border security capability in the region. Working collaboratively with our regional partners and building shared capability will enable us to more effectively address the shared challenge of organised criminal networks seeking to breach border security.

“The Pacific region is continuing to build capability to combat the ongoing threat of transnational organised crime, and this training is just one aspect of our maritime and border security engagement initiatives.

“Australia is committed to working with our international counterparts to counter maritime security threats including drug trafficking, illegal fishing and people smuggling,” A/g Assistant Commissioner Houghton said.

In 2017-18, the IBCP plans to deliver 50 training activities to participants from around 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions across a number of disciplines such as document examination, intelligence analysis and X-Ray image analysis.