(Kaieteur News) – Transnational criminal networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, operating like corporations while exploiting maritime routes, cryptocurrency networks and legitimate economic sectors to move drugs, people, weapons and illicit money, Secretary General of INTERPOL Valdecy Urquiza warned on Wednesday.
Addressing the opening of the 27th INTERPOL Americas Regional Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Urquiza said the Americas is central to global security and that developments at the region’s ports, borders and digital networks have consequences far beyond the hemisphere.
“We are no longer confronting isolated cartels or local street gangs. We are confronting the diversified transnational criminal enterprise acting like corporations,” he said.
Secretary General of INTERPOL, Valdecy Urquiza.
Urquiza, who is INTERPOL’s first Secretary General from Latin America, said the organisation’s focus must now be on turning strategy into action and producing results on the front lines. He pointed to the convergence of several forms of organised crime, noting that the maritime corridors used to transport narcotics are also being exploited for human trafficking, wildlife trafficking and firearms smuggling.
At the same time, AI-driven cyber fraud is generating illicit proceeds that can be moved through complex cryptocurrency networks within seconds. Urquiza highlighted the continuing threat posed by synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, in North America, while noting that precursor chemicals are being transported through Pacific shipping hubs and across the Americas at industrial scale.
In the Caribbean, he said criminal groups are exploiting the region’s geography and maritime routes to facilitate the movement of narcotics, while illicit firearms move south, fuelling violence. “Cocaine remains the financial lifeblood of groups across Central and South America,” he said, adding that the scale of the cocaine trade has created another major challenge for criminal organisations — how to move, conceal and launder their proceeds.
According to Urquiza, an increasing number of criminal syndicates are addressing that challenge by investing drug proceeds in illegal gold mining. He pointed to Operation Guyana Shield as an example of how law enforcement agencies can follow the money behind organised crime. “Alongside our hosts and regional partners, you started on the front line, seizing illegal timber and gold. You follow the trail record by record, shell company by shell company, uncovering the illicit mercury supply chains and the laundered profits behind them,” he said.
Urquiza said the operation demonstrated that simply seizing illegal goods is not enough to dismantle criminal organisations. “Seizures take away their cargo and following the money takes away their business,” he said. He announced that INTERPOL will launch a new Silver Notices Initiative at its General Assembly later this year in Hong Kong, China, aimed at helping member countries trace and disrupt illicit assets across borders before they can be reinvested in criminal activity.
Fourteen countries from the Americas will participate in the pilot initiative, with Urquiza expressing hope that all member countries will support the initiative and that it will eventually become permanent.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police Dr. Clifton Hicken said the increasingly transnational nature of crime means that effective policing can no longer depend solely on national capabilities.
“Effective policing does not only depend on national capability but also on sustained international cooperation,” Hicken said. Welcoming delegates to Guyana for the 27th INTERPOL Americas Regional Conference, Hicken said international cooperation is an operational necessity for Guyana, given its geographic location, extensive Atlantic coastline and borders with Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela.
He said Guyana’s vast forests and river networks support economic and regional integration but also create vulnerabilities to narcotics trafficking, firearms trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking and illegal mining. The country’s expanding international connectivity, he added, also demands greater vigilance against cybercrime, financial crime, money laundering and other technology-enabled threats.
“No country, regardless of its size or capabilities, can succeed in isolation,” Hicken said.
He noted that criminal networks routinely operate across jurisdictions, exploiting differences between countries while rapidly adapting their methods. “Accordingly, law enforcement agencies must be equally connected, coordinated, and adaptable,” he said. Hicken said INTERPOL provides the global policing architecture needed to facilitate that cooperation, through its databases, secure communications network, operational support, specialised training and criminal intelligence capabilities. These tools, he said, allow member countries to identify wanted persons, trace illicit firearms, share investigative information and coordinate operations across borders.
Source: Kaieteur News
