MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Leading UK security company plans to increase presence in Paraguay

Óscar Vidal Martínez, who represents Smiths Detection in Paraguay, has announced the firm plans to strengthen its operations in the South American country in the near future.

“We are trying to have a stronger presence because the previous distributor did not. We are trying to change that with training and to reinforce Smiths Detection's presence in the country,” Vidal Martínez said.

“The detection area is the one we represent in Paraguay. It is the world's largest brand in X-ray detection technology, protection for aviation, borders, and digital and urban defense,” he added.

The company has a long history of developing instruments to detect drug trafficking and smuggling activities, particularly has worked for customs and airports.

Vidal Martínez said the company already has clients in Paraguay, both private and government-run agencies. Its main product are X-ray scanners for Customs and the National Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Dinac) and the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad). Another type of predominant clients are embassies and foreign missions.

“We were the first to patent the trademark for obtaining X-ray equipment for containers. The U.S. embassy has trace equipment, which is for analyzing products, used in recent operations such as the discovery of drugs in parquet floors,” the executive explained.

Smiths Detection has also been involved in several Olympic Games and the Super Bowl in the United States in tasks concerning crowds entering and leaving stadiums.

Last February, the company also participated in the detection of a cocaine shipment seized by Senad as a part of what was known as Conexión España.

During last week's workshop in Asunción, which was attended by United Nations security officers Vidal Martínez insisted his company's idea was to assist current and potential clients alike wipe off their operational doubts to fight smuggling and drug trafficking.

Vidal said that even Customs insists on increasing the purchase of the equipment because it is ultimately a way to protect exports and imports that are developed in the country about contraband, radioactive, narcotics, weapons, non-permitted materials. (Source: Infonegocios)