United States Embassy brings U.S. Fish and Wildlife and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers to train with Namibian Customs Officials

WINDHOEK, AUG. 22 – The U.S. Embassy Regional Security Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recently offered Wildlife Border Interdiction training to Namibian Customs Officers. The training was hosted by the Ministry of Finance Directorate of Customs and Excise and included visits to both Hosea Kutako International Airport and Eros Airport.

The Course was presented by a team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inspectors and Customs and Border Protection Officers. The training was attended by 20 officers from the Directorate of Customs and Excise.

The course covered wildlife smuggling techniques, airport interdiction, land border interdiction, and post seizure analysis. While this specific one day course is not being offered annually, it is part of the Wildlife Border Interdiction Training Program which is a very new program that will be offered globally several times a year. The interaction and liaison between the USFWS and Customs officers has generated future collaboration efforts.

Wildlife trafficking is an area of shared interests between the U.S. and Namibian governments. It is a pivotal time for Southern Africa as the region battles wildlife trafficking threatening its economically vital tourism sector. The U.S. Embassy in Namibia remains supportive of the Namibian Government’s efforts to curb poaching and wildlife trafficking and looks for every opportunity to support these efforts. – NDN Staffer