INTERPOL boosts Caribbean cybercrime policing

The international police organization, INTERPOL, says it has conducted a series of cybercrime training sessions in Latin America and the Caribbean, aimed at enhancing regional law enforcement capacity to prevent, detect and respond to cyber-threats.

INTERPOL said on Friday that the three training sessions — held in the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Colombia — brought together a total of 62 law enforcement officers from 29 countries and territories for focused training sessions on mobile forensics, online investigations and providing a “first response” to a cybercrime incident.

“The training sessions were an integral component of the INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Capacity Building Project in Latin America and the Caribbean,” the statement said.

Funded by the Canadian government, INTERPOL said the initiative will deliver specialized training, technical equipment and focused operations to countries across the region.

“Training sessions such as these remain at the forefront of INTERPOL’s efforts to enhance law enforcement capacity to meet the challenges of policing technology-enabled crimes,” INTERPOL said.

“With cyberattacks taking place with increasing frequency around the world, it is crucial for police to stay ahead of criminals by understanding new trends and responding with innovative solutions,” said Madan Oberoi, INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime.

INTERPOL said the training sessions took place in cooperation with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Dominican Republic National Police and Colombian National Police.

Training was provided by experts from the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation, in partnership with specialists from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Colombian National Police, Oxygen Forensics Inc. and Cyber Forensics 360.

INTERPOL said countries and territories which participated in the training were: Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Sint Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos.