00:00The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA International Training Team, and the U.S. Embassy's DEA Port of Spain County Office
00:09are now actively engaged in a program with members of the TTPS, Coast Guard, and Prison Service to name a few.
00:17Commander Hira says he himself was personally trained with DEA officials in Quantico, and it was a very enlightening experience.
00:27According to him, the certification and standardization of the entire process, as well as having all agencies operating on the same page,
00:36will have a positive impact on law enforcement here.
00:39I am encouraging that. I'm optimistic that it is an opportunity here for officers to be able to have more ability and capabilities.
00:49It's capacity building. When you look at it, it's capacity building.
00:53And even with the customs officers on the port, we know that that could be an overwhelming situation.
00:58We know at times that that could be a situation where, as somebody else said in another place, where the tail wags the dog.
01:05But I see it as an opportunity. You know what? We are getting people trained.
01:09We're getting people participating in best practices. We are looking at international best practices.
01:15He notes, however, that at the end of the program, there should be continuity and further networking among the parties to deal with crime.
01:23So the business continuity of the training, the business continuity of what you're learning on this program must now be applied in your specific domains.
01:32And I think it's an opportunity that should be multiplied because it's very important to have standardization,
01:38everybody speaking from the same language and what is called the adoption of international best practice,
01:43because as you would have seen, one of the key aspects of this training is to deal with transnational organized crime,
01:49which is counter trafficking, money laundering, all of those things.
01:53With regard to the recent audit report into the Strategic Services Agency or SSA and the concerns raised about possible coup plans and unaccounted for ammunition,
02:04Hira says this is why accountability is key.
02:08The lights have been turned on in the room is an indicator of how important it is to have oversight.
02:13You must have autonomy as an intelligence agency. That's expected.
02:18You will have to have autonomy, but that autonomy does not give you free reign.
02:23There has to be a certain oversight and authority as to that autonomy in your acquisitions, in your procurement and, of course, in your operations.
02:32So it has now provided an opportunity for Trinidad to look deep, a deep dive, look into the thing and to recognize how important now to have continued oversight on some of these intelligence agencies.
02:44However, the commander does not hold the view that the report should be made accessible to the public as the integrity of the agency still has to be protected.
02:54Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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