From 10 July to 4 August, 30 national x-ray operators, including 5 women, will participate in the second Interdicting Small Arms, Ammunition, Parts and Components Course (ISAAPC) in Guatemala, organised by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in coordination with the Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In this second edition of the GuatemalaISAAPC , officials from the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics, the Department of Tax Administration, the Division of Ports, Airports and Border Posts (Dipafront) of the National Civil Police and COMBEX IM of Guatemala have been invited to attend both virtual and in-person sessions.
Faced with the constantly evolving issue of arms and ammunition trafficking in the region (, UNLIREC seeks to support the efforts of Guatemala and all Latin American and Caribbean States to combat and prevent the illicit trafficking of firearms, their parts, components, ammunition, and explosives through postal deliveries, parcels, packages, and luggage. ISAAPC was developed as a specialised training for X-ray operators who carry out control and inspection tasks at security checkpoints.
Over the next few days, the group of participants will strengthen their abilities in the identification of weapons, their parts andcomponents, as well as ammunition and explosives. This course is taught by a combination of theoretical and practical methodology. They will receive practical training on a specialised platform to improve their ability to identify threats such as weapons, their parts and components, and ammunition, as well as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
To complement and enrich this training and foster inter-agency collaboration,participants from different national institutions will also share their experiences in the detection of firearms and ammunition through x-rays.
The Course on Interdicting Small Arms, Ammunition, Parts and Components (ISAAPC) is part of the technical assistance provided by UNLIREC in the context of the project Support to the implementation of sub-regional, regional and global instruments and frameworks related to small arms control and ammunition management in Latin America and the Caribbean, funded by the Federal Republic of Germany.