Historic meeting for Fiji and Colombian Police

Intensifying national, regional and global law enforcement efforts in tackling transnational organized crimes was the subject of an historic meeting between the Fiji Police Force and the Colombian National Police this morning.

The meet?ing made possible through the support of the Australian Federal Police saw senior Colombian National Police officials, Colonel Alain Albeiro Echavez Martinez the Sub-director Intelligence Direction (DIPOL) and Lieutenant Colonel Andres Arias Buitrago the Head of the National Anti-drug Service meet with the Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew and senior Fiji Police officers.

Accompanying the Colombian Police delegation was Australian Federal Police’s Senior Liaison Officer (Pacific) Detective Superintendent Adrian Morton and senior AFP officers.

The meeting coordinated by the AFP was aimed at consolidating regional and global alliances in disrupting criminal syndicates through the sharing of experiences and information.

Colombia is also considered a key Australian partner in the fight against international serious and organized crime.

Today’s meeting opened the door to the valuable sharing of experiences, lessons learnt in dealing with various criminal networks, structures of highly organized crime, sharing of information? and intelligence, ?best practices and the use of technical capabilities, ?and an insight of the Colombia National Police's coordination and integration ?efforts at the global level.

With Colombia being located at a crossroads between North and South America, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, the forum heard of the emerging challenges faced by the Colombian National Police even with comprehensive capabilities at their disposal.

Colonel Echavez Martinez in summing up the importance of the historical meeting said, “Our countries may be different geographically and language, but that should not impede in our efforts of working together for one purpose”.

“Transnational crimes can happen anywhere in the world?. ?Those in the crime network or groups don’t know each other and speak different languages, but they share a common purpose, and it is important for us to understand how we can work together to be more effective in tackling organised crime”.

Similar sentiments shared by the Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew.

“As police jurisdictions in any part of the world, our main enemy is crime. Despite the number of police officers you have or your capabilities, we all fight crime, and today is a historic moment for the Fiji Police Force moving forward,? and we thank the Australian Federal Police for this opportunity to meet and see how we can work together".

The Colombian National Police is also home to one of INTERPOL’s largest Directorate of Criminal Investigation.