South Korean police arrested two key suspects who had fled to Colombia and Venezuela just two weeks after joining AMERIPOL, a Latin American police cooperation body. Police plan to use the results to expand their international cooperation network in Latin America and strengthen their response to transnational crime such as drug trafficking and human trafficking.
The Korean National Police Agency said on the 22nd that it arrested the two suspects, who had fled to Colombia and Venezuela, early this month after joining AMERIPOL as an observer on Aug. 28.
AMERIPOL is a Latin American police cooperation body created following the first Conference of American Police Chiefs, held in Bogota, Colombia, in 2007. It handles cooperation among member states and collaboration with international organizations on transnational crime, including drug investigations and human trafficking.
The police agency had initially planned to win approval for membership at a regular general assembly this November, but early accession was approved at a special session on Aug. 28, helped by strengthened security cooperation with Latin American countries.
Immediately after joining, police activated AMERIPOL cooperation channels to track the whereabouts of the two fugitives who had entered Colombia and Venezuela.
One of them was arrested at an airport in Colombia on the 7th of this month and was repatriated to South Korea after voluntarily returning home via Madrid, Spain. The other suspect, who had been in Venezuela, was arrested locally on the 9th of this month after being detected moving to Madrid through Colombia. Both are suspected of fraud. Extradition proceedings for the suspect are under way.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and South Korean embassies in Colombia, Venezuela and Spain also cooperated in the arrests and repatriation. After the arrests, police held a video conference with AMERIPOL and participating countries to share the results of the joint operation and discuss future cooperation.
The police agency has expanded security cooperation with Latin America, signing memorandums of understanding with the national police agencies of Brazil and Chile on the occasions of the Brazilian president's visit to South Korea in February and the South Korean president's visit to Chile in July. The agency said the AMERIPOL membership has further strengthened the foundation for international cooperation across the Latin American region.
An AMERIPOL official said the organization was pleased to have contributed to this first joint result achieved immediately after South Korea joined AMERIPOL, and pledged to serve actively as a bridge between member states in the region and Korean police.
An official at the police agency said the country has expanded its international cooperation framework beyond Interpol to the Latin American region, and stressed that it would continue to strengthen cooperation with other regional bodies such as Europol, Afripol, Gulfpol and Aseanapol to further raise its capacity to respond to transnational crime.
