PHILIPSBURG:--- President of Parliament Hon. drs. Gracita Arrindell is paying a courtesy call to Secretary General Ronald K. Noble, of the world's largest international police organization INTERPOL (International Police), in Lyon, France.
Sint Maarten was one of three countries that joined INTERPOL in 2011 at the November 80th session of the General Assembly held in Hanoi, Vietnam. The other two countries were Curacao and South Sudan.
INTERPOL is the world's largest international police organization, with 190 member countries. The organization's role is to enable police around the world to work together to make the world a safer place.
INTERPOL is supported by 673 people who work at its General Secretariat and Regional Bureaus, representing 98 different nationalities.
INTERPOL makes use of high-tech infrastructure of technical and operational support which helps meet the growing challenges of fighting crime in the 21st century.
In early 2011 INTERPOL broke ground for the construction of the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore. Last September a new Command and Coordination Centre in Argentina launched its operations, another step forward for global support to operations.
Every day of the year, INTERPOL's tools and services continued to support police around the world. Officers searched databases two million times per day, while 16 specialized teams were deployed to assist with terrorist attacks, a plane crash and security preparations for major events.
According to INTERPOL's 2011 Annual Report, the organization had many successes such as Operation Infra-SA, which saw the arrest or location of 61 fugitives wanted for crimes including murder; drug trafficking, money laundering and crimes against children.
Operation Pangea shut down tens of thousands of websites selling counterfeit and illegal medicines worth more than US$6 million.
Three key programmes against radiological and nuclear threat, environmental crime and maritime piracy now exist, while a 10-year training programme was launched with FIFA to enhance integrity in sports.
INTERPOL Secretary General Noble visited the country in April and met with Arrindell at the House of Parliament. During the visit, Noble invited Arrindell to visit INTERPOL headquarters.
"Our law enforcement bodies have a great resource at their disposal. INTERPOL as an international organization with 190 members is able to tackle the challenges of international policing. INTERPOL is indeed well positioned to lead the fight against the emerging crime threats of the 21st century," President of Parliament Hon. drs. Gracita Arrindell said on Sunday, the day of her departure to Lyon, France.
