New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) What’s INTERPOL and CBI got to do with an anti-doping workshop? Turns out quite a lot as World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) increasingly prioritises gathering intelligence and in-depth investigation to strike at the source of the menace — the producers and suppliers of banned substances.
To ensure that India is not left behind in the WADA’s newest focus area, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) conducted a five-day workshop, which had INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) officials along with representatives from law enforcement agencies from various Asian countries.
NADA Director General Anant Kumar told PTI that while testing and educating athletes is necessary, the WADA has now decided to strike at the root of the problem.
“The main objective of this was to bring together anti-doping officers of the Asian region. WADA has shifted focus to intelligence gathering on drug suppliers. With testing and education, you can control doping to a certain extent but you can’t test everyone,” he explained.
“But when you directly attack the source of these activities, you get more success,” he said.
Participants included Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Philippines and officials from South Asia Regional Anti-Doping Organisation.
It is reliably learnt that from India, CBI officers were present in this workshop which focussed on training the participants in interrogation techniques of suspects.
The INTERPOL has a cooperation agreement with WADA since 2009 and views doping substances market as “low risk – high profit”, making it increasingly attractive to organised crime groups worldwide.
It has been providing WADA “strategic intelligence related to trafficking of performance-enhancing drugs”.
A recent case that caught the eye in the global anti-doping activities was in Kenya, where an Indian national was arrested with “an illegal consignment of assorted performance enhancing substances” during a raid on prohibited drugs, conducted in collaboration with that country’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
It was a case of perfect coordination between an anti-doping body and a law enforcement agency. The place where the suspect was caught was Iten town, which is recognised by athletes worldwide as a training hub for elite long-distance runners.
The NADA chief said a stronger collaboration between law enforcement agencies and anti-doping organisations can ensure that illegal drugs become inaccessible going forward.
“We all know how drug cartels work, they operate through a global network. One country produces, another supplies and then the consumer could be in another country.
“That’s why it is essential to have international cooperation and it’s where agencies like the INTERPOL are crucial. The anti-doping officers who attended this workshop were taught interrogation techniques, understand the basics of an investigation, which would come in handy for them,” Kumar said.
He also revealed that while WADA has been doing such workshops in Europe for a while, it’s a first for India. The country will hold another such workshop in July.
“There were two WADA officers who attended this workshop, few representatives from INTERPOL,” Kumar said.
“There were activities like role-play in which we discussed how an athlete might be targetted by the suppliers. How the suppliers need to be tracked. That’s the whole idea behind this.
“Apart from the training part of it, workshops like this will also bring nations together in their fight against doping,” he added.
The participants also underwent “comprehensive sessions on intelligence functions, confidential source management, open-source research, and analytical methods.” WADA’s Director of Intelligence and Investigations Gunter Younger said he was “pleased with the progress we have made thus far in the region” “(I) have no doubt that it will make a marked impact in the protection of clean sport here and around the world,” he asserted.
India’s doping record has not been the most impressive for several years and the country ranks quite high in the WADA’s list of dope offenders. PTI PM PM PDS PDS
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