02/08/2018
The European Union supports the signing of a police cooperation agreement between 5 countries through the AMERIPOL support project
The leader of the project, Marcos Alvar, during his speech
Authorities from five Latin American countries met in Buenos Aires to sign the Police Cooperation Agreement as part of the fight against transnational organised crime. An agreement sponsored by the European Union through the EL PAcCTO project: Support for AMERIPOL , managed by FIIAPP.
The Argentine Minister for Security, Patricia Bullrich, the Bolivian Government Minister, Carlos Romero, the Brazilian Minister for Security, Raul Jungmann, the Ecuadorian Interior Minister, Lino Mauro Toscanini, and the Panamanian Deputy Minister for Security, Jonattan del Rosario attended this signing within the framework of the AMERIPOL Summit: “Road to institutionalisation”.
This Agreement constitutes a fundamental advance in the fight against organised crime at the regional level, integrating operational information for joint investigations and contributing to a safer world.
The Ambassador of the European Union, Aude Maio-Coliche, highlighted its importance in establishing coordinated police cooperation between the Latin American region and EUROPOL , and underlined the EU’s commitment to the region through its Action Outside in the fight against organised crime. In addition, the Argentine Minister for Security emphasised the importance of this agreement, because it is the first of its kind signed in the region.
The leader of the AMERIPOL support project, Marcos Alvar, reviewed the background to this agreement, including the support provided by the European Union and the Spanish National Police in its initial phases. SIPA I (AMERIPOL police information system) was developed through this work, the system now manages more than 30,000 records relating to drug trafficking.
Regarding its future, the system is expected to evolve into SIPA II and expand to include crimes related to transnational organised crime beyond drug trafficking: trafficking in human beings, cybercrime, illegal immigration, gender violence and others.
The data can be stored and exchanged between the parties in a secure manner in order to combat organised transnational crime in a practical, effective and proactive manner. And the involvement of these five countries responds to the need to equip themselves with an instrument that allows this controlled exchange of information. As of its signature, the Agreement is open to other countries belonging to AMERIPOL.
