Jacqueline Semedo made the comments at the opening of an advanced course on drug investigation for senior PJ investigators, judicial magistrates and public prosecutors, organised at the local premises of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (ONUDC)

"The Polícia Judiciária have always relied on international support with regard to the fight against drug trafficking,” Semedo was quoted as saying in a statement released by the PJ. “Given our geostrategic situation between Latin America and Europe, we are on the cocaine route, serving as a supply country for vessels bound for Europe or Latin America and … as a place to store drugs bound for that same destination.”

At the event, Semedo pointed out the importance of the training that Cabo Verde officials are receiving, and highlighted the support that has been available so far in combatting drugs trafficking in the country. She stressed that, while it is regarded as a "country of passage of drugs destined for Europe" – a phenomenon that is being fought with the help of international partners, Cabo Verde also faces the challenge of combatting domestic trafficking.

"Seizures, although they may seem insignificant in the eyes of other countries, for us are gigantic steps in the fight against domestic trafficking, which inflates the crimes of money laundering, burglary, mugging, assault, homicides, etc.", she stressed.

Also quoted in the same PJ statement, the ONUDC’s senior coordinator in Cabo Verde, Cristina Andrade, highlighted the aim of the course: "to improve the skills of magistrates and police in terms of drugs investigation."

The course is funded by the US government under the Crimjust programme, which aims to strengthen criminal investigation and cooperation along the cocaine route, by reinforcing the capacity of law enforcement officers to deal with the trafficking of illicit drugs in Cabo Verde and the rest of West Africa. Designed by trainers from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the course also involves senior investigators from Guinea-Bissau – another former Portuguese colony that is also on drug trafficking routes.