From June 25 through July 1, 2018, experts from Grace Farms Foundation (GFF) traveled to Hua Hin, Thailand, to conduct a training for dozens of officials—including police, customs, prosecutions and wildlife departments— as part of a new international training program on how to combat and successfully prosecute transnational organized crime groups operating by illegal means on a global level.
The case study based training program was developed in collaboration with Freeland Foundation, Interpol, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and brought together officials from eight (8) countries, including Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa. In addition to addressing specific strategies for dismantling illicit supply chains, it was designed to promote and foster regional and interagency cooperation and protect the most vulnerable in society through local, national, and international action.
Rod Khattabi, a former federal agent who has investigated, arrested and prosecuted organized crime syndicates involved in human trafficking, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and weapons smugglings on multiple continents, and currently serves as Director of Safety and Justice Initiative Advisor at Grace Farms Foundation, conducted trainings throughout the week. The curriculum covered seizure, interview techniques, prosecution, and case study. Mark Fowler, a wildlife conservation specialist and Grace Farms Foundation’s Nature Initiative Director, joined Khattabi to assist with focused trainings regarding not-for-profit organizations and wildlife issues.
A key outcome from the training was the development of an international network to be sustained for multi-agency coordination, sharing information, and building the capacity to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal syndicates in countries around the world. This was the second international training supported by Grace Farms Foundation, Freeland Foundation, Interpol, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The first training, held in February in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, led to an international task force that dismantled a wildlife trafficking syndicate.
Grace Farms Foundation | Justice Initiative Trainings
A primary goal of Grace Farms Foundation is to increase the identification of those victimized and vulnerable to human trafficking and to improve the response of the law enforcement community. To accomplish this, we leverage the expertise of former federal law enforcement agents to facilitate national and international training engagements that improve intelligence-led investigations, victim identification, and the prosecution of criminal perpetrators. In 2017, the Foundation led a comprehensive training for police, prosecutors, lawyers, and victim service providers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The training session attracted 223 attendees and focused on the enforcement of U.S. laws pertaining to child sex tourism in foreign countries. On a state level, the Foundation provided training for the Fairfield County Detective School for 30 attendees on human trafficking investigations.
