Orihuela Local Police has been conducting a course which has involved both classroom work and roadside checks on drivers in which they have been looking for the signs of consumption of drugs.
The councillor for Citizen Security, Mariola Rocamora, stressed the importance of the course which she said has been held “to promote training and updating of knowledge to ensure a better service to residents.”
This course was held on the premises of the Orihuela Local Police, by the Elche Police Training Officer, José Sánchez as well as the Deputy Attorney for Road Safety in the province of Alicante, and a psychologist from the Addictive Behaviour Unit in Elche. It was held with the approval of the Valencian Institute of Public Safety (IVASPE).
Rocamora also said “the training consists of both theory and practice, thus complying with the legal objective of the Criminal Procedure Law, which states that only agents who obtain this training may conduct regulatory tests to detect drugs in drivers.”
The main objective of these controls is to raise awareness about the risk of driving whilst under the influence of drugs because of the change in the physical conditions that these substances cause in drivers said the councillor for Public Safety.
The practical training element saw preventive controls being carried out, both on the Orihuela Costa and in Orihuela City. As a result of these controls, in addition to reporting various administrative offenses, a total of 17 positive tests were reported on drug users.
Whilst also carrying out the roadside checks the agents also made two important arrests. First, that of an individual from Kosovo with an international search and arrest warrant; and a further arrest of a person of Albanian origin who was wanted in Italy.
