Specialized training against illicit trade — First edition, Quito, Ecuador

Held on September 7–8, 2022, in Quito, Ecuador.

The “Specialized Training to Counter Illicit Trade / First Edition: Tobacco Industry Products” program was sponsored by Philip Morris International and regionally coordinated by Strategos BIP as part of the third round of PMI IMPACT. It received support from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and academic endorsement from Ecuador’s Universidad Hemisferios and the United Nations University for Peace.

The training, held on September 8–9 and led by Juan Carlos Buitrago, CEO of Strategos BIP, was aimed at officials from Ecuador’s National Customs Service (SENAE), the Ecuadorian National Police and its investigative bodies, the Financial Analysis and Investigation Unit (UAFE), and international cooperation agencies.

Participants made interagency commitments with a transnational focus in the following areas:

1. Develop strategies for sharing information.

2. Hold interagency cooperation working groups involving institutions from different countries.

3. Participate in the GIR meeting on December 1 of this year.

4. Develop collaborative interagency work to combat illicit trade in the region.

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Attendees:

Dr. Carola Ríos

Director of the National Customs Service

Dr. Franklin Murillo

Director of the Financial and Economic Analysis Unit

Brigadier General Juan Carlos Buitrago Arias

Founder & CEO, Strategos BIP

General Fausto Olivo

Director General of Investigations, Ecuadorian National Police

Alberto de la Huerta

A. D., U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Ecuador

Dr. Víctor Guerra

Philip Morris International representative

Dr. María Fernanda Román

Director of the School of Government, Universidad Hemisferios

Dr. Mauricio Vieira

Coordinator of the Chair on Combating Illicit Trade and Preventing Transnational Organized Crime, University for Peace

Gabriel Drouet

Criminal investigator and legal adviser, HSI

The event was attended by officials from Ecuador’s National Customs Service (SENAE), the Ecuadorian police and its investigative bodies, and the Financial Analysis and Investigation Unit (UAFE).