INTERPOL’s Heads of NCB conference has ended with delegates approving a series of conclusions to boost the law enforcement response to address the increasing logistical, operational and technological sophistication of transnational organised crime.

Expanding access to I-24/7, INTERPOL’s secure global police communications network, to specialised law enforcement units and border control points, and sharing more criminal data via the organisation’s 19 databases were highlighted as key.

Increased use of INTERPOL’s policing capabilities, such as the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) stop-payment mechanism to intercept the proceeds of cyber-enabled financial fraud was also endorsed.

Intercepting criminal proceeds

Since the launch of I-GRIP in 2022, the organisation has helped member countries intercept more than USD 500 million in criminal proceeds.

The need for more data exchanges on terrorist organizations, their support mechanisms, and any links to organised crime was underlined, as well as sharing modus operandi linked to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and improvised explosive materials and incidents.

INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock said, “It is simple – more data shared via INTERPOL equals more results for police across our 196 member countries.

“To address the complexity of today’s transnational organised crime threat, global law enforcement cooperation to ensure that the right information is in the right place at the right time is more important than ever.

“This meeting has provided new impetus for our National Central Bureaus which play a critical role in the global security architecture.”

Protecting children

To better protect vulnerable members of society, NCBs were also encouraged to make greater use of INTERPOL’s International Child Sex Exploitation (ICSE) database to share intelligence, identify offenders and safeguard victims, as well as Green Notices to warn about sexual predators.

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