Category: Interpol

LYON, France: Senior police leaders from eleven South American countries met in Brasilia on Thursday to address the growing threat posed by transnational organized crime groups.

The fourth INTERPOL Chiefs of Police meeting for South America allowed the officials to share insights into their respective efforts against organized crime and contribute to a regional plan to combat specific crime groups.

In his remarks to the police leaders, INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said:

“Criminal groups from South America are continually expanding their reach throughout and beyond the region, where one in every three INTERPOL Notices is related to organized crime.

“This meeting offers a dedicated space to reinforce regional police cooperation and fight organized crime effectively on a global scale.”

Representatives at the meeting will include seven police chiefs and four deputy police chiefs from the eleven countries.

The first INTERPOL Chiefs of Police meeting for South America took place in 2018 to strengthen ties between law enforcement within the region and to foster greater information-sharing.

South American police records shared through INTERPOL have since doubled and countries in the region have played leading roles in recent INTERPOL initiatives targeting organized crime, such as INTERPOL cooperation against the ‘Ndrangheta (I-CAN) and the Silver Notice pilot.

INTERPOL’s Regional Bureau in Buenos Aires, Argentina helps coordinate operational work in the region, tackling crimes such as child sexual abuse, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, money laundering and terrorism.

Police leaders from the following countries participated in the fourth INTERPOL Chiefs of Police meeting: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

LYON, France – The ninth edition of Operation Pandora, an international operation targeting the trafficking of cultural goods, has led to 80 arrests and the seizure of 37,727 items including archaeological pieces, artworks, coins and musical instruments.

Codenamed Pandora IX and carried out throughout 2024, the operation involved law enforcement and customs authorities from 23 countries. It was coordinated by Spain (Guardia Civil), with operational support from Europol, INTERPOL and the WCO through its Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Eastern and Central Europe. 

Authorities also confiscated 69 metal detectors and 23 tools commonly used for illegal excavations, underlining the persistent threat of looting to cultural sites.

In total, 258 cases were reported by the participating countries. Many investigations are still ongoing, with further arrests and seizures expected.

Operational highlights

The Italian Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) in coordination with the Italian Customs and Monopolies agency (ADM) seized a painting attributed to renowned artist Jannis Kounellis during a joint border operation. Upon inspection, it was determined to be inauthentic. Had it been genuine, its estimated value would have been around EUR 100,000. In a separate investigation, the Carabinieri TPC seized more than 300 items, including coins, metal and ceramic fragments such as arrowheads and spearheads dating back to the Roman and Punic periods. These artifacts were being offered for sale on e-commerce platforms and were discovered in a private apartment.

The Spanish Guardia Civil dismantled a criminal group involved in archaeological looting in the province of Cáceres. Six individuals were arrested, and three others are under investigation. During the operation authorities recovered 2,500 archaeological items, primarily Roman coins minted in the Celtiberian city of Tamusia. These artifacts had been looted from protected archaeological sites in the province of Caceres using metal detectors and were being sold illegally through social media platforms.

Also in Spain, the Guardia Civil intercepted a passenger attempting to fly from Palma de Mallorca to Germany carrying 55 ancient coins and a ring. A subsequent investigation led to an indictment for crimes against cultural heritage and plundering underwater wrecks and archaeological sites. In total, 64 objects of historical value and 1,576 ancient coins were confiscated.

In Greece, the Department of Cultural Heritage and Antiquities of Athens recovered five Byzantine icons. Acting on intelligence and using special investigative techniques, including an undercover officer, three individuals were arrested while attempting to sell the icons for EUR 70,000.

Ukrainian customs authorities seized 87 cultural goods that were being illegally transported out of the country to Poland, Moldova and Romania.

Cyber patrols uncover additional cases

In addition to on-the-ground actions, dedicated cyber patrols were carried out during the operation to identify potential illicit online sales of cultural property. These virtual investigations led to the opening of new cases, demonstrating how digital platforms are quickly becoming a channel of choice by traffickers to market and sell looted artefacts. A total of 4,298 cultural goods were seized as a result of the cyber patrols.

Built on international cooperation

Operation Pandora IX was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT). Europol facilitated the exchange of information and provided analytical and operational support to the national investigations. Furthermore, one cyber patrol week was hosted by Europol.

INTERPOL coordinated cross-border actions and offered tools such as its Stolen Works of Art database and on the ground ID-Art mobile application.

The WCO’s secure communication tool, CENcomm, was made available to all participants while its Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Eastern and Central Europe compiled, refined and shared information provided by Customs administrations

Since its launch in 2016, Operation Pandora has become a key global initiative to protect cultural heritage from illicit trafficking.

Participating countries in Pandora IX (2024):

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine, United States.

Participating agencies:

Europol, INTERPOL, World Customs Organization

VIENNA, Austria – Countries need to take critical measures to target the huge illicit profits generated by drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and frauds and scams, international organisations urged today, warning that behind every dollar laundered is a victim – a family destroyed, a life lost, a community damaged.

This was the urgent call to action by leaders from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), INTERPOL and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna today, at a high-level side event on the first day of the 34th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ).

Prioritising an economic and financial crime approach to crime prevention is critical to reduce the harm that crime causes to our societies, and to ensure financial stability and economic growth.

At today’s CCPCJ, FATF, INTERPOL and UNODC collectively called on governments to improve asset recovery efforts to remove organized crime and terrorist groups’ ability to expand value and territory, and to cooperate internationally to make financial investigations more targeted and effective.

Finance ministers have called for greater efforts to fight crime and terrorism by cutting off the profits which enable them. The FATF, the global watchdog on illicit finance covering over 200 jurisdictions, responded to this call by tightening standards for asset recovery.

Assessments of the FATF Global Network found that almost 80 per cent of countries are at low or moderate level of effectiveness on asset recovery.

UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly said:

“This is a call to action to define innovative and scalable solutions to combat economic crime. Let us work together through our partnerships and use the opportunity of this CCPCJ and the 15th UN Crime Congress in 2026 to accelerate collective responses against criminal and terrorist financing to ensure our financial systems are drivers of peace, security, and prosperity.”

FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo said:

“The FATF is committed to providing countries with the tools and the international forum to collectively tackle the challenges we all face today. This is critical to financial stability, development, peace, and security. Global defences against illicit finance are only as strong as our weakest link, so we are sounding the alarm so that all countries work together to meet the complex, transnational threats of today. We cannot let crime thrive.”

From the operational perspective, INTERPOL has implemented its recently launched Silver Notice, designed to improve the speed and effectiveness of international cooperation in targeting criminal assets. Currently, 51 countries that are part of the pilot have indicated they will make use of the new Notice to request information on assets worldwide.

INTERPOL Acting Executive Director of Police Services Cyril Gout said:

“Illicit finance is not just one of many criminal threats – it is the enabler of them all. This is why INTERPOL focuses on developing and delivering innovative tools to facilitate international law enforcement cooperation and tackle illicit financial flows. We are proud to serve as a bridge between international commitments and national action.”

The three leaders highlighted their recent collective work in developing practical tools for practitioners to dramatically improve their capabilities in working across jurisdictional lines, with FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo noting that, “Criminals do not confine themselves within national borders, so we need to ensure that our borders do not provide opportunities for criminals to hide money and frustrate our pursuit of them.”

Later this year, the three organizations, together with the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, will release practical guidance for practitioners on key avenues of international collaboration.

The leaders stressed the strengthening of the FATF’s international standards on anti-money laundering and terrorism financing and called for accelerated progress on cooperating across borders and capacity building ahead of the UN 2026 Crime Congress, to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

They also recognized the positive impact of Member States increasingly working with the private sector and civil society on joint approaches to fighting financial crime and welcomed the acceleration of operational work through public private partnerships and task forces.

High-level participants at the event, “Global Call to Action to Combat Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism: International Cooperation”, discussed the critical steps that Member States must take to dramatically improve international cooperation to fight money laundering and terrorist financing, including capacity building, the effective implementation of the risk-based approach, public-private partnerships, and innovating through new technologies.

The 15^th UN Crime Congress, Abu Dhabi, 25 – 30 April 2026, will provide its Member States the opportunity to grapple with these difficult issues and to commit to scalable and innovative responses to financial crime.

LYON, France: An international police operation targeting vehicle crime in West Africa has led to the detection of approximately 150 stolen vehicles and the seizure of more than 75 vehicles.

Coordinated by INTERPOL and carried out by national law enforcement agencies in 12 West African countries, the operation – codenamed ‘Safe Wheels’ – also initiated 18 new investigations and uncovered the involvement of two organized crime groups.

Most of the stolen vehicles detected through INTERPOL’s Stolen Motor Vehicle (SMV) database were trafficked from Canada, while many had also been reported stolen in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

INTERPOL’s SMV database allows police in the Organization’s 196 member countries to run a check against a suspicious vehicle and find out instantly whether it has been reported as stolen.

In 2024, around 270,000 vehicles were identified as stolen globally through the SMV database.

David Caunter, Director of Organized and Emerging Crime at INTERPOL, said:

“Each year, hundreds of thousands of vehicles are stolen around the world, yet the initial theft is often only the beginning of a vehicle’s journey into the global criminal underworld.

“Stolen vehicles are trafficked across the globe, traded for drugs and other illicit commodities, enriching organized crime groups and even terrorists.

“INTERPOL’s SMV database is the strongest tool we have to track stolen vehicles and identify the criminals involved in this global trade.”

Stolen Canadian cars in Nigeria

During the two-week operational phase (17-30 March), law enforcement in participating countries established an average of 46 checkpoints each day to inspect a total of 12,600 vehicles, checking their details against INTERPOL’s SMV database.

Out of the vehicles seized or flagged as stolen, Toyota models were the most represented, followed by Peugeot and Honda.

Both land and sea routes were used to traffic stolen vehicles detected during the operation.

In Lagos, during checks of freight containers purportedly from Canada, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers discovered six vehicles – Toyota and Lexus models – four of which showed clear signs of break-in.

Checks against INTERPOL’s SMV database confirmed that all six vehicles were reported stolen in Canada in 2024. Investigative collaboration is ongoing between the NCS and Canada’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau.  

Nine law enforcement officers and experts from INTERPOL’s SMV Task Force, including an expert examiner from Canada, were also deployed to the region – in Benin, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo – to support Operation Safe Wheels.

Operation Safe Wheels took place under the aegis of Project Drive Out – a new partnership between INTERPOL and the Government of Canada to target vehicle theft and the illegal trade of spare parts – and was made possible by Canadian funding.

INTERPOL member countries that participated in the operation were: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo.

Washington DC, USA – INTERPOL and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have signed a letter of intent to identify areas for cooperation in combating organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Signed by IDB President Ilan Goldfajn and INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza, the letter provides a framework which will support the priorities of the Alliance for Security, Justice, and Development.

Launched in December 2024, and supported by INTERPOL via the Barbados Declaration, the Alliance aims to effectively address the complex challenges posed by organized crime and to promote coordinated actions and policies at the regional, sub-regional and national levels.

Both organizations will now explore opportunities for knowledge sharing and the provision of technical assistance to countries across the region to build capacity in fighting organized crime.

Valdecy Urquiza, INTERPOL’s Secretary General said:

“There is no development without security. Strong institutions and safe communities are what make progress possible.

“That’s why INTERPOL and the IDB are working together — to help create the secure environment Latin America and the Caribbean need to invest, grow and thrive.”

Ilan Goldfajn, IDB President said:

“This is a significant step toward building a safer, more resilient region. It reflects our shared commitment to addressing the growing complexity of organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean. By combining INTERPOL’s global law enforcement network with IDB’s development expertise, this partnership will strengthen institutions, foster coordinated regional responses, and support innovative strategies to disrupt illicit markets and protect vulnerable populations.”

One of the main recommendations from INTERPOL’s 2024 Americas Regional Conference was a call for enhanced cooperation against the multiple threats posed by organized crime networks and the associated increase in violence.

Founded in 1959, the IDB is devoted to improving lives across Latin America and the Caribbean, through impactful, innovative solutions for sustainable and inclusive development. Leveraging financing, technical expertise and knowledge, it promotes growth and well-being in 26 countries.

The INTERPOL handbook on DNA data exchange and practice, available also on INTERPOL’s web site, has met with success in the law enforcement world. The International DNA Users’ Conference for Investigative Officers, opening on Wednesday (7 Nov.) at INTERPOL’s Headquarters in Lyon, France, will be told of a record high number of web hits for down loading the handbook alone.

Over the recent years, DNA profiling has become a cutting-edge crime investigation technique. With its capability to implicate or eliminate, DNA profiling offers investigators a powerful new tool as they seek to unravel criminal cases. DNA profiling is therefore a vital addition to the techniques traditionally available to investigators. Linked criminal strategies can be analysed and new criminal phenomena recognised, resulting in more effective police management and corresponding savings in human, material and financial resources.

‘DNA profiling is one of the most efficient techniques for identifying individuals suspected of crime. It is perhaps one of the most significant developments in the ability of the police to detect crime from evidence left at the scene, and a crucial weapon in combating those crimes of a violent or sexual nature’, says INTERPOL’s chief Ronald K. Noble.

The INTERPOL DNA Handbook was produced by the DNA unit at INTERPOL’s headquarters and the organisation’s DNA advisory expert group. It is primarily directed at law enforcement officers with the aim of giving them a clearer understanding of DNA techniques and practices. The handbook is currently being translated into French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and German.

‘I would recommend this handbook to all law enforcement officers dealing with DNA matters’, says Secretary General Noble.

INTERPOL and EMCCA have signed a Co-operation Agreement, on Monday 26th March 2001. The INTERPOL President Mr Jesus ESPIGARES MIRA, and the EMCCA Secretary General Mr Jean NKUETE took part in the ceremony as well as M. Pierre MINLO MEDJO, General Delegate to the Public Security of Cameroon and Chairman of the Central African Police Chiefs Committee (CAPCCO)

The purpose of this bilateral agreement is to develop the exchange of information between the two organisations, to establish operational channels of co-operation between both Organisations throughout the world, recognising the importance of further strengthening the co-operation between them within the fields of their mutual competence and to co-ordinate their efforts within the framework of the missions assigned to them.

For more information about INTERPOL, please consult our web site: http://www.INTERPOL.int

See also: Resolution No AGN/69/RES/9.