This one hour training broadcast features law enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and State Police.  These experts share their knowledge and strategies used to locate narcotics smuggled from Mexico, Canada and other ports of entry.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn the latest drug smuggling trends within the United States,including Miami and New York, as well as Canada and Mexico
  • See successful seizure footage provided by our expert panelists
  • Hear various tactics and techniques used for successful seizures and officer safety
  • Learn various techniques to locate hidden compartments for illegal contraband
  • Explore ways on how communities can help
  • Learn the signs of drug smuggling activities in large and rural areas and how to report suspicious activities

Originally Aired: August 28, 2008

Target Audience: Primarily this program is for government agencies, law enforcement officials, high school students, teachers, parents, drug prevention specialists, Drug-Free Communities Act grantees, administrators, school drug counselors, treatment providers, drug court members, policy makers, business leaders, coalitions, drug demand reduction coordinators, criminal justice professionals, members of the religious community and other community partners who may be interested.  This program is also suitable for public or cable access television distribution.


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Panelists

Corporal Rick Bernard

Corporal Bernard is the Integrity Coordinator for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; New Brunswick, Canada

Rick has 18 years of dedicated service with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) which include 8 years in patrol, criminal investigations and highway patrol.  Rick was responsible for introducing the Operation Pipeline concepts to his patrol area in Northern New Brunswick province in the late 90’s.  For the past 5 years Rick has been assigned to the Integrated Border Enforcement Team or IBET along the Maine/New Brunswick border.  IBET is a multi-agency investigation team comprised of police officers of the RCMP, agents of the U.S. DHS (Border Patrol, ICE, Coast Guard and CBP) and Canadian Customs.  For two years, Rick was the Commander of the St-Stephen IBET unit.  Recently he was promoted to the position of Border Integrity Coordinator for the RCMP in New Brunswick.

In the past ten years Rick has been involved in over a hundred cases of drug trafficking, drug smuggling, human smuggling, tobacco smuggling, gun trafficking and national security investigations.  In January of 2006 he traveled to Baghdad, Iraq to investigate the kidnapping of 2 Canadians, an American and a British citizen by an insurgent group operating there.

Sheriff Michael Lewis

Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland

Sheriff Lewis recently retired as a Sergeant with the Maryland State Police.  He was a part of the Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement (PACE) Team and served for 22 years.   Retiring as the leading Criminal Interdiction Expert for the Maryland State Police, Sheriff Lewis remains a certified instructor through the Maryland Police Training Commission, and a certified master instructor through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Sheriff Lewis was directly responsible for the training and educating of all Maryland State Police personnel in the Criminal and Drug Interdiction Programs.

He pioneered the Drug Interdiction Program along Maryland’s notorious U.S. Rt. 13 corridor, where he coordinated many multi-jurisdictional investigations following the seizures of large amounts of illegal contraband. Mike also developed and implemented the now hugely successful full-time Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement (PACE) Team comprised of Maryland State Troopers charged with patrolling the infamous I-95 pipeline from Miami to New York. During his twenty-two years as a Maryland State Trooper, he’s made many nationally recognized seizures of crack cocaine, powder cocaine and heroin from electronically controlled hidden compartments.

Sheriff Lewis has trained tens of thousands of law enforcement officers extensively throughout the United States and Canada as well as other parts of the world to include; Australia, London, Germany, Russia & the West Indies. Sheriff Lewis has been judicially recognized by the federal & state courts of this country as an EXPERT in the areas of Highway Interdiction, Hidden Compartments & Drug Valuation.

Retired from the Maryland State Police effective July 1st, 2006, Mike Lewis was elected Sheriff of Wicomico County, Maryland on November 7th 2006.

Sergeant Paul R. McDonald

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indiana

Paul McDonald is a 22 year veteran of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.  In 2000 he founded the department’s first Criminal Interdiction Section.  Due to its success, this team has grown over the years and is currently comprised of thirteen uniformed narcotics detectives, including six narcotic canine units.  Year after year, this team of highly motivated officers has led the department in arrests, drug, and money seizures.

Paul is a nationally certified Criminal Interdiction Instructor through the DEA’s El Paso Intelligence Center and the DOT’s Drug Interdiction Assistance Program.  He has instructed thousands of officers over the years in the areas of less-lethal chemical and impact munitions and all areas of criminal interdiction.

In 2006 Paul was the Chairman of the 16th Annual International DIAP-EPIC Conference held in Indianapolis. He currently is an active member of the Governor’s Coalition for a Drug Free Indiana and the Indiana Criminal Justice Agency’s Advance Criminal Enforcement Task Force (ACE) committees.