Customs officers must evolve to think like a criminal, says Kumar

CUSTOMS officers must evolve to “think like a criminal” to avert or counter any illicit activity that transpires at the country’s borders.

This was the challenge laid down by FRCS director border, Shelini Kumar while speaking at the opening of a border control training workshop in Suva.

The two-week workshop is jointly organised by FRCS, the Australian Border Force and Indonesia’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise and supported by the United Nations Development Program.

Ms Kumar also called for effective collaboration and coordination between all border agencies and other stakeholders such as police, navy, and immigration officers.

“Every day is a challenge for us,” she said.

“We have criminals who try to be one step ahead of us. Sometimes, you have to get your mind to think like a criminal, where would they be doing activities or how they would be thinking about sabotaging customs, navy, police and other agencies around the protection of our national borders.

“At the end of this program, we should have people out there who should think differently.”

Ms Kumar also confirmed to participants that FRCS was helping police investigate the spate of drug seizures in the country, discoveries that raised questions about how porous Fiji’s borders are, and how the shipments made their way past border officials.

She added the two-week training was especially important to foster greater collaboration between agencies.

“When you go back, there are others who have not had the opportunity of attending. Please go back and do your awareness and trainings with others, have meetings, coordinate with each other, discuss coordination,” Ms Kumar said.

“We all need to understand what is currently happening in the globe of customs and our national borders. It not only involves customs but all our stakeholders who are joining to protect the national interest of Fiji.

“It is important that we have effective collaboration and coordination. That is one challenge and gap that we have analysed so far.

“You can have many SOPs, many trainings, many practical and desktop exercises but at the end of the day if you don’t come together, work together, there shall be very little and minimal changes.

“Things have changed; customs is going towards modernisation and we are trying to fill the gaps.”