On July 25, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia started a training of trainers (ToT) course for dog handling instructors specialising in drug searches in Latvia. H.E.   Mr. Timur Primbetov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Latvia, and Mr. Kristaps Eklons, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, took part at the opening of the event. The training course is a three-month event gathering five trainers, one from each country of Central Asia, and it aims to improve theoretical and practical knowledge during in-training of canine teams and service dogs used for daily border guarding tasks, including the detection of drugs. 

Over twelve weeks, the participants will undergo theoretical and practical training with the service dogs and develop teaching skills for the subsequent transfer of knowledge within their respective institutions. The curriculum of the course is developed in line with the European and  FRONTEX Agency standards. As per the ToT methodology, the training also includes the provision of specialised K-9 dogs and appropriate training equipment, which will be handed over to the trainers at the end of the course.  Upon completion and successful certification, the dog handler-instructors will be equipped with the skills, knowledge and materials to continue training sessions within their agencies.

This ToT is organised within the framework of BOMCA Programme’s Component 2, “Improvement of detection capacities to counter cross-border crime”, and is aimed at developing the K-9 teams’ capacities at border agencies. In parallel, the Programme runs another ToT for dog handling instructors specialising in explosives’ searches, which was launched  in Vilnius earlier this month.