The State Customs Committee (ASCCA) was represented at the international seminar organized by the "Training and Operational Partnership against Organized Crime" (TOPCOP) project implemented by the European Union (EU) Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL).

CEPOL organized the international Capacity-Building Network seminar on the topic “Strengthening Cooperation with EU Law Enforcement Agencies - Cooperation against Cross-Border Crime" in Warsaw, the capital of the Republic of Poland. The event was attended by representatives of the European Union, Eastern European Partner countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia), as well as representatives of law enforcement agencies of other countries.

The purpose of the training was to discuss the cooperation between the EU and the Eastern European Partner countries, which are the beneficiaries of the project, in the fight against organized crime within the framework of the EU Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

The main panels of the event were related to such thematic areas as the experiences of the EU and the Eastern European Partner countries regarding the latest trends in the field of cross-border organized crime, CEPOL's support in the fight against organized crime through trainings and projects, the detection and prevention of cross-border crimes in terms of EU external borders, human and migrant trafficking, arms and drug smuggling.

ASSCA was represented at the international event by Mehriban Asgarova, the chief investigator of the General Directorate of Operational Investigation Unit and Elvin Mecidov, the coordinator of international cooperation and projects of ASCCA, the Coordinator of Capacity Building in the TOPCOP project. They made a presentation at the panel "Cooperation against cross-border crime: drug smuggling".

Elvin Mecidov noted the participation of 154 customs employees of Azerbaijan customs service bodies in various events of the TOPCOP project as an example of successful foreign cooperation in the field of capacity building and spoke about the importance of international experience, knowledge and skills, and mutually beneficial partnerships on capacity building related to cross-border crime. He emphasized the importance of EU training programs, other international trainings and new collaborations in the fight against cross-border drug smuggling, especially for Azerbaijan, and talked about the existing international training collaborations.

Mehriban Asgarova made a presentation on the successes achieved by the Azerbaijani customs service authorities in the fight against the illegal cross-border circulation of drugs, the types, scale, mass and smuggling routes of the detected drugs. She noted Azerbaijan's active participation in such global mechanisms as the Customs Protection Network, an international information exchange tool on customs violations of the WCO, and the "PICS" (Precursor Incident Communication System) system established by the International Narcotics Control Board of the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and noted that the country has made important contributions to international activities against cross-border drug smuggling.  M. Asgarova emphasized that Azerbaijan has bilateral agreements with more than 50 countries on cooperation and mutual assistance in the field of customs.

It should be noted that the Customs Academy is the institution responsible for strengthening the personnel potential of the customs service bodies in Azerbaijan within the framework of the TOPCOP project. Taking into consideration the importance of strengthening the personnel potential of customs service bodies in ensuring the national and economic security of the country and fighting against organized crime, ASCCA joined the "TOPCOP" project as a partner institution in April 2021. As a result of ASCCA-CEPOL cooperation, the employees of the relevant customs service bodies of Azerbaijan have the right to participate in various courses, modules, seminars, trainings and webinars that will be implemented within the framework of the project until 2024.