In the government’s objective to continue the fight against drug traffickinghe National Director of Customs, Jorge Borgianidetailed the new tender for three scanners that will be active from May of next year and will be capable of controlling 80% of the load that passes through the Port of Montevideo.
Interviewed by Radio Carve, the director of National Customsannounced that in May of next year they will already be installed three scanners which will have a maximum control capacity of 80%, although Borgiani He assured that they will not be operating all the time, but that shipments will be chosen. “We cannot scan just to scan if there are other elements that do not complete that control procedure,” Borgiani explained.
Meanwhile, the director of Customs He assured that there are still details to explain to the population and that they will be done through a press conference that will take place today. “We are going to introduce the project manager of the winning companyof American origin, where we are going to inform the population of the progress made and where the scanners will be located, which, initially, will begin with Montevideo”, the director detailed.
In that sense, Borgiani explained that there are two scanners that are fixed and that the other has the ability to move since it is “self-transportable” because it can move by its own means and be transferred to other administrations or controls.
Regarding the administration of the tender, the competition was won by the United States, S2 Global, who invested 42 million dollars. Borgiani explained that the investment of this amount corresponds throughout the 10 years of the award and that it includes, in addition to the scanners with renewal periods as necessary and can be carried out, as well as operation and maintenance of equipmenta software of image interpretation and training to customs officials. On the other hand, once the period ended, it would be left to the Uruguayan government.
A fight that needs support from the region
At the beginning of this year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned in its latest report that Uruguay is located on the route of world drug trafficking.
The organization, which registered a record increase in the area cultivated with coca in Latin America (35% year-on-year in 2021), determined that the country is key as a port of exit for drugs to Africa and Asia, the two new markets.
The cocaine route that goes through Uruguay to the world begins in Paraguay, the navigable route being key for drug trafficking. Paraguay-Paraná. According to the UNODC, drug shipments move on barges and are then transferred to ships, hidden among commercial cargo.
With this, Borgiani explained, the Uruguayan government reached agreements with Argentina and Paraguay. During the month of July, the government together with Paraguay reached an agreement where both countries must now adapt their computer and non-intrusive control systems for the future exchange of online images, as well as some other data obtained during the cargo inspectionssomething that also happened with Argentina.
Source: Ambito
