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The Customs Administration will celebrate their anniversary participation with a rich programme

This year's NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days will not miss the presentation of the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic. This time it will be its twentieth anniversary participation in this international show of military, security and rescue units, which will be reflected in its dynamic displays and the extensive static exposition.

Visitors can look forward to two displays during the main programme. In the first one, visitors will see the activities of the Mobile Surveillance Unit during joint Czech-German patrols, while the second one will involve a violent stop of tobacco smugglers by the Operational Deployment Group (SON). In addition, the customs administration's canine experts will demonstrate the work of canine specialists and their dogs in searching for weapons, alcohol or money.

A new feature of the static exhibition will be a laser shooting range, where visitors will be able to try out the service weapons used by this security force. Traditionally, interested visitors will be able to learn about the issue of intellectual property infringement, such as counterfeit cosmetics, clothing, footwear, electronics, and even spare parts for vehicles. Customs officers will also present successful cases of detecting illegal trade in protected animals and ways of smuggling them. Another area presented will be the detection of the illegal production of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (NPS) and a display of the environment and conditions of illegal drug production.

The customs administration staff will also show the special equipment they use in their work, which visitors can try out. One of the presented devices will be a handheld Raman spectrometer from the Customs Technical Laboratory (CTL), which has been widely used in the field since the methanol case in 2012. This handheld instrument can not only identify the presence of methanol in spirits, but also up to 12,000 substances - from commonly available chemicals to narcotics. A handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, which is used in the field for elemental analysis of mainly metal alloys, but also, for example, to identify heavy metals in toys and, last but not least, to detect the gold content and carat count of jewellery, will also be presented.

During the NATO Days, CTL's cooperation with the Search Department, which is mainly in the field of tobacco, alcohol and narcotics, will be presented. A film produced on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Customs Technical Laboratory will also be screened in the Customs tent. Customs staff, who are responsible for recovery and enforcement, will also be on site to answer visitors' questions in this area.

This year, the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) will also be an external presenter at the Customs Administration's exhibition, with its "Become a Hero" campaign (www.darujzivot.cz), in which members of the Customs Administration's security forces are actively involved and which is aimed at expanding the register of bone marrow donors.

See you at
23^rd NATO Days in Ostrava & 14^th Czech Air Force Days!