“It is a meeting that has not taken place for more than 20 years. We meet again and I think it is important to reorient this work in response to the dynamics of drug trafficking,” said Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo, after a week of debates on the issue.
According to the owner, this bilateral forum, held the previous day at the Casa Grande del Pueblo (Government Seat), will lead to joint actions against illegal actions that impact humanity.
He regretted that criminal organizations have been sending narcotics to Spain and also in the opposite direction.
“As the plurinational state of Bolivia, we are obliged to take all necessary and possible measures to mitigate the effects of the illegal drug trade,” said del Castillo.
He believed that the more information the authorities of both parties exchange in a fluid dialogue, the more important the measures and their results will be.
This meeting was the culmination of a week of important international meetings to discuss policies and share experiences in the fight against drugs.
These forums included the Third Annual Meeting on Drug Policy Cooperation (Copolad), the presentation of the Latin American Anti-Narcotic Alliance (ALA) and the XXIV Forum of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac)-European Union (EU) and the Joint Commission Bolivia and Spain on this issue.
Under the latter, the parties signed eight commitments to carry out joint actions.
The signatories were Bolivia's Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, Jaime Mamani, and the Spanish government's delegate to the National Drug Plan, Joan Ramón Villalbi.
The points contained therein include the exchange of experiences, the establishment of contact points and mechanisms for the regulation of precursors, psychotropic drugs and narcotics.
Work is also underway to strengthen investigations into the legitimacy of illegal profits, money laundering and property loss claims and to set up joint investigation teams into illegal trafficking in controlled substances.
“This joint commission meeting will further strengthen our bilateral relations and achieve significant results for the benefit of our countries,” the vice president said.
For her part, Ambassador and Adviser at the General Subdirectorate for International Cooperation against Terrorism, Drugs and Organized Crime of the Spanish Government, Nuria Reigosa, agreed with Mamani that the meeting was a big step towards strengthening bilateral relations.
He recalled that “this mixed commission is part of an anti-narcotics treaty signed in 1997 between Spain and Bolivia”, which is why he described it as “an instrument that we have had there for several years (…)”.
In June 2023, following a scandal surrounding the transport of 478 kilograms of drugs from Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz to the Barajas terminal in Madrid, the governments of Bolivia and Spain agreed to strengthen cooperation to combat this illegal drug and advance the development of a cooperation agreement in the field of security and the fight against organized crime.
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