• Instructor:  Mike Tamez, 720 Concealment                   REGISTER HERE
• Location: Rowan-Cabarrus Community College North, Building N110, Room 133
• Date: June 5-6, 2023
• Time: 8 am – 5 pm
• Total Hours: 16

Course description and objectives:

COURSE GOAL: Teach students how to effectively and lawfully search for and locateconcealments within motor vehicles used to transport contraband.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Understand considerations associated with each search conducted on passenger motor
vehicle. Outline different search approach techniques commonly utilized to account for
all space within a passenger motor vehicle.
• Know why it is important to have an established basic and advanced level tool kit.
• Understand and reinforce (through repetition) the importance of special accountability.
• Define and understand the difference between factory voids and modified voids.
• Define and discuss the importance of identifying consistencies and inconsistencies
associated with passenger motor vehicle searches.
• Understand where passenger motor vehicle body and mechanical parts are located on
the vehicle by utilizing photographic references.
• Know the role each passenger motor vehicle body and mechanical part plays on the
vehicle.
• Learn how voids are used and or created to conceal contraband within (or on) each of
the passenger motor vehicle body or mechanical parts.
• Observe photographic and video references of concealments located within passenger
motor vehicle body and mechanical parts.
• Understand how quick reference rapid assessment techniques can apply to some
concealments in order to observe and locate a concealment
• Utilize the (3) phases of rapid assessment.

Instructor Biography
Mike is currently employed as the Special Investigator In-Charge of the Nueces County
District Attorney’s Criminal Interdiction Unit. Mike has been a law enforcement officer within the
South Texas area for 23 years; 18 of which have been as a full-time Criminal Interdiction
Officer. Prior to beginning his law enforcement career, Mike served the United States Marine
Corps as a Sergeant in the Infantry. Mike also deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom
and served as a Convoy Commander for over 200 “outside the wire security” missions as part of
the Law and Order Task Force (LAOTF) of Iraq. While serving in Iraq, Mike earned the Bronze
Star along with many other awards for service in support of OIF.
Mike holds a Master Peace Officer License in Texas and is a Federally Certified
instructor for the United States Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA),
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the El Paso Intelligence Center. Mike is a court
certified expert in the field of Roadside Interviews, Detecting Deception, Physical body language
interpretation and contraband concealment detection. Mike has had criminal interdiction officers
throughout the United States join him for weekly “ride a longs” and has been asked by other
agency administrators to do “ride a longs” with their officers as a mentoring program. Mike has
taught throughout the United States as an instructor for two privately owned interdiction training
companies and is considered a subject matter expert in the field of Criminal Interdiction. Mike
was recognized by the City of Kingsville twice for criminal interdiction successes; once by
receiving the city’s Employee of the Year Award. In 2014 Mike was awarded the El Paso
Intelligence Center’s: National Networking Officer of the Year. In 2015 Mike was awarded the El
Paso Intelligence Center’s: runner-up award for National Interdiction Officer of the Year. In
2016 Mike was awarded the Federal Motor Carrier Administration’s Commercial Motor Vehicle
Interdiction Officer of the Year at the National Interdiction Conference. Also in 2016, Mike was
awarded the El Paso Intelligence Center’s: National Instructor of the Year. In 2017, Mike was
recognized for his dedication in teaching at the annual Motor Vehicle Criminal Interdiction
Association’s Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2019 Mike was again awarded the EPIC
National Instructor of the year award and is the only Instructor in the history of EPIC to have
earned this distinction twice.
During his time as a criminal interdiction officer, Mike has conducted several interviews
with local, state and federal news agencies; including the National Public Radio (NPR). Mike
has been featured on several internet blogs concerning currency seizures and was the focus of
several local television news stories on criminal interdiction. Mike has been the guest speaker
at many nationally recognized law enforcement conferences including the: Motor Vehicle
Criminal Interdiction (MVCI) Association’s annual conference, National Interdiction Conference
(NIC), National Criminal Enforcement Association (NCEA), the National Narcotics Detector Dog
Association’s (NNDDA) annual conference, the International Narcotics Interdiction Association’s
(INIA) conference, Domestic Highway Enforcement’s (DHE) annual conference, Annual
Michigan State Highway Patrol’s annual conference and the Florida State Patrol’s annual
interdiction conference. Mike is currently a lobbyist for the Texas Municipal Peace Officer’s
Association (TMPA) and is considered their Association’s asset forfeiture subject matter expert
for the 2016 and 2018 legislatures. Currently Mike is a contributing writer for the NCEA’s
Criminal Enforcement quarterly magazine and writes on the topics of improving the individual
interdiction officer. In 2022 Mike co-authored his first book, “The Traffic Stop,” an Amazon #1
Best Seller in Criminal Evidence.