Ambassador Ashe presented specialized equipment valued at $130,000 to the Polish Customs Administration and Border Guard at the agencies’ headquarters on May 10 in Warsaw.
Amb. Ashe said, “The goal here is to help agencies involved in border security and prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Polish Customs and Border Guards are truly on the front lines in maintaining security, and we hope this equipment can further enhance their already outstanding ability to protect Poland and its neighbors.”
The equipment donated to Customs includes three sets of Contraband Enforcement Team kits, designed to take to search sites. Each kit contains an assortment of tools for detecting contraband materials in confined spaces.
One instrument – a highly specialized Contraband Detector – can help determine the difference in density between contraband (drugs, explosives, weapons, currency, etc.) and the object in which the contraband is hidden; for example an empty tire filled with air, as opposed to an “illegal” tire filled with drugs. The instrument also detects radioactive materials.
The equipment donated to the Border Guard consists of eleven sets of multipurpose, hand-held radiation monitors manufactured by Polon Alfa, a Polish company in Bydgoszcz.
These highly sophisticated devices are designed to detect extremely small amounts of radioactive and nuclear materials and can identify radioactive sources.
The equipment donation is part of a wider program of export control and border security that the U.S. Government is implementing.
Over the last three years the Embassy has provided specialized tools such as multi-purpose knife kits, radiation pagers, GPS receivers, and desktop and laptop computers to border officials.
The Embassy has also coordinated 16 training courses for approximately 500 Polish participants from Customs, Border Guard and other Polish law enforcement agencies.
In the months and years ahead, the U.S. Government will continue to provide specialized training to a number of Polish institutions and agencies. These kinds of investments will help make Poland’s borders more secure.
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