Albania Computer Data Recovery

Description: Assistance will be used to establish a law library, which will serve as the information center for anti-trafficking efforts and also as a magnate for the training of legal professionals in Kathmandu. The library will contain information on statutory law, common law, cases under investigation, and a computer a hardcopy database. The library will also serve as a legal training center, which will provide training and resources to prosecutors, law students, and police. ... [Read More]

International Education Week Events and Activities

Computer-Assisted Teacher Training Pilot-Morocco (U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington and Morocco) - In a LearnLink project implemented by the Academy for Educational Development, seven primary school teacher training colleges in outlying areas of Morocco are being linked in a computer network that provides electronic communication, internet access and pedagogical modules with multi-media CD-ROMs for teacher professional development. The project also aims to increase learning opportunities for girls in rural Morocco. ... [Read More]

J) Europe and Central Asia

The counternarcotics unit currently includes 100 police officers and agents and a network of 12 regional offices, but it remains understaffed and ill equipped. There is no on-line communication between the headquarters and the regional offices, and the unit lacks critical technology, such as a computer database. In 2002, the UNDCP provided the counternarcotics unit with some off-road vehicles, a van with detection equipment, and training on drug identification and profiling techniques. The U.S. Embassy’s ICITAP program provided U.S. $130,000 in surveillance equipment to the Organized Crime Directorate, which includes the counternarcotics unit, and training in surveillance and profiling techniques. Most regional counternarcotics offices, though, must rely on local police budgets, which do not allow for the purchase of vehicles or surveillance equipment. With international assistance, the GOA also established an anti-trafficking center in Vlora in 2001, but this center has not produced r ... [Read More]

J) Europe and Central Asia

Accomplishments. Work on a National Drug Intelligence Information Center was completed in early 2001 in connection with the final phase of an institution building project sponsored by the UN Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP). The operational heart of the Information Center consists of a central server in the Ministry of Internal Affairs connected with computer systems in the State Drug Control Commission, the Committee for National Security, the State Border Guard Service, the General Prosecutor, and the Ministry of Health. The GOTX hoped that the Information Center and resulting connectivity between its primary law enforcement agencies would facilitate the collection, analysis, and exchange of drug related intelligence, and enhance the effectiveness of Turkmen counternarcotics efforts. Unfortunately, the project collapsed in less than a year as a result of poor maintenance of the equipment. The central computer server is damaged and most computer stations are n ... [Read More]

Bilateral Activities

During 2003, a number of U.S. law enforcement and regulatory agencies provided training and technical assistance on money laundering countermeasures and financial investigations to their law enforcement, financial regulatory, and prosecutorial counterparts around the globe. These courses have been designed to give financial investigators, bank regulators, and prosecutors the necessary tools to recognize, investigate, and prosecute money laundering, financial crimes, and related criminal activity. Courses have been provided in the United States as well as in the jurisdictions where the programs are targeted. Department of StateThe Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism ( ... [Read More]

Europe and Central Asia

AlbaniaI. Summary Drug trafficking is a significant problem in Albania, which is a major transit country for heroin from Afghanistan and Turkey destined for markets throughout Europe. Organized crime groups use Albania as a transit point for drug and other types of smuggling due to the country’s strategic location, weak police and judicial systems, and porous borders. The most common illegal drugs are heroin, marijuana, and to a lesser extent, cocaine. Heroin is typically transported through the "Balkans Route" of Turkey-Bulgaria-Macedonia-Albania, and on to Italy, Greece and the Netherlands. Cocaine is smuggled from South America, via the United States, Italy, Spain, Greece or the Netherlands, and ... [Read More]

Europe and Central Asia

Corruption. Corruption has been the most significant problem within Georgia's law enforcement agencies. Georgia's anti- corruption efforts continue to be hampered by the widespread tolerance of corruption within Georgian society. During 2001 the Government of Georgia formed a commission to reform the law enforcement agencies (so-called "power ministries"). The commission developed a strategy for reorganization that was forwarded to the Georgian National Security Council; however, no significant changes were made. In any case, none of these proposed measures can truly ameliorate the situation given the low wages of officials and poor standard of behavior from those in charge that nourish wide-scale, low level corruption. The new hope of eradicating corruption within the system emerged with the appointment of a new Minister of Internal Affairs, who has publicly and repeatedly announced his commitment to combating corruption and the trafficking ... [Read More]