Alumni in Focus

Mr. Diop

Here at the RTC, we love to highlight the numerous successes of our alumni, as direct evidence of the quality of our training. This month, we are happy to introduce the story of Mr. Diop from Senegal, who had the opportunity to participate in our International Air Cargo Interdiction Training in May 2017. Let’s hear what he has to say!

My name is Mr. Diop, a police adjutant with the Senegal National Police Force. I am the head of the police force stationed at the border area of Keur Ayib. I had the privilege to attend the International Air Cargo Interdiction Training at the RTC in May, 2017. This training has been of great help to me and my team stationed at the border area.

Within a space of 11 months, my team and I have been able to carry out 25 arrests of some international drug trafficking cases (including heroin, cocaine, hashish, Indian hemp, amphetamines etc.) and other criminal offences. We also successfully worked on cases related to Child Rights Protection (e.g. child trafficking, irregular migration, etc.). All these cases are currently before the courts and have been referred to the office of the State Prosecutor in the Kaolack region.

As a result of these efforts, the authorities of the Senegal National Police Force have elevated the post at the border area  to the status of  Special Police Station similar to the Police posts located  at  various airports and ports. The police authorities have also given me a noble task of establishing a police post in the new region of Kaffrine.

My experience at the RTC has greatly contributed to making the Senegal-Gambia border (Keur Ayib border area) safer and more secured by using techniques like targeting and controlled techniques in our operations. In our fight against terrorism, we mounted police checkpoints and also deployed intensive land border patrol teams to places where there were no checkpoints. We are very grateful to the RTC for contributing significantly to this success.

One major challenge that we face as a police unit at the border area is intelligence gathering, as it requires some amount of resources. However, we have been able to keep a very close relationship with our informants who provide us information on potential human and drug traffickers as well as the victims.

Given the number of vehicles that cross the Gambia-Senegal border, we are sometimes unable to conduct a systematic check on all these vehicles. This constitutes our second major challenge. However, by using the targeting technique acquired during my training at the RTC, we have been able to arrest illegal traffickers and also seized some contraband goods.

The technique helps to identify an individual carrying illegal drug by using eye contact and reading his or her body language. Upon interrogation, about 90% of our suspects showed signs of guilt and were arrested. Further investigations led to the arrest of most of the potential suspects. Once targeted, we conduct a full search on the suspect’s body and luggage for evidence of concealed drugs. Searches of this kind revealed that drug smugglers conceal the drugs in their travelling bags, hand luggage, trouser pockets, shirts, purses, swimsuit, etc. There is always a female officer available to conduct body search on female suspects.

Unfortunately, most of the suspected drug traffickers arrested are nationals from our neighboring country - Guinea Bissau. Most suspects were arrested carrying heroin, cocaine and hashish, etc. Two out of the twenty-five (25) arrested suspects were students (males) who were carrying pellets of cocaine worth 500,000 CFA francs (935,106 USD).

Once again, I would like to show my appreciation to the RTC for the in-depth knowledge that I received during my training. I hope to get another opportunity to attend an advanced course in border interdiction.

 Kudos to the instructor teams and staff at the RTC!

We appreciate our alumni sharing their successes with us. Please feel free to reach out to us at info@westafricartc.org if you’d like to share your story!