On 8 April 2025, a delegation from the U.S. State Department, led by Ms. Jennifer Werth, Foreign Affairs Officer and Team Lead for Maritime Security, Counternarcotics, and Crime at the Office of Security, Transnational Affairs, and Assistance (STA), Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA), and Ms. Marcy Brown, South Asia Regional Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, along with Mr. Dustin Bickel, Regional Indo-Pacific Strategy Coordinator, Mr. Daniel Reback, Political Officer; and Ms. Charitha Fernando, Political Specialist, and Ms. Jeevika Arachchi, IPS Regional Specialist U.S. Embassy Colombo, visited the Colombo Plan (CP) headquarters. CP delegation, headed by Secretary-General His Excellency Dr. Benjamin P. Reyes, Drug Advisory Programme (DAP) Director, Ms. Oranooch Sungkhawanna and Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Merlyn Francisco engaged in discussions on current and future initiatives under both DAP and Maritime Advisory Programme (MAP).

The meeting featured a fruitful discussion covering the unpaused INL-funded projects in the region, the needs of CP member states for the capacity building to accurately detect synthetic drugs, unknown substances, and complex drug mixtures that are increasingly prevalent in the region.

The Colombo Plan also shared information on the current MAP initiatives, particularly the ongoing “Colombo Port Capacity Building Project”, funded by the U.S. State Department.  His Excellency Dr. Benjamin P. Reyes also emphasized the connection between maritime security and effective drug detection, reinforcing the need to enhance port security as a crucial element in counternarcotics efforts.