I first wrote about Donnie in my post, Forfeiture & The DEA’s Asset Search. In that post, I mentioned that Donnie was a former Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration who had gone to Iraq to train Iraqi Police. Donnie recently left the Numaniyah National Police Training Academy to travel about an hour’s drive southeast of Baghdad on a military convoy to Al Kut ( Camp Delta). He had gone to Al Kut to work through a contracting company on a new job, similar to that of a Border Police Advisor.
As part of his new job, Donnie will be sent to the Basrah Training Academy where temperatures can reach up to 140-150 degrees in August. He will advise the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement about its training course for recruits. According to a Multi-National Force press release, the Department of Border Enforcement “training course is an eight-week course that involves instruction in military training, border patrols, checkpoint set up, vehicle searches, and detecting narcotic and human smuggling”.
In addition to covering the above subjects, Donnie will teach how to detect bulk-cash smugglers / illicit cash couriers, during border inspections. As INTERPOL’s First International Conference on Illicit Cash Couriers suggested, training border personnel to detect cash smuggling is critically important. This is true because criminals like money launderers and terrorists often use couriers to conceal and transfer cash through airports or other border crossings. FOXNews.com reported on July 29 for example, that terrorists smuggle cash across Iraq’s borders to help finance al-Qaida’s operating budget in Iraq.
Copyright 2008-2022 Fred L. Abrams