Kathmandu, January 12

Senior law enforcement officials from across Asia and many other regions will gather in Kathmandu from January 18 to 20 to attend the 23rd Asian Regional Conference of Interpol.

The Interpol ARC is held every two years to assess the state of police cooperation and the fight against transnational crime. It is the second time Nepal is hosting the conference after 1989.

Interpol President Meng Hongwei is also set to grace the conference and highlight the need to engage with all law enforcement agencies, and to share information via Interpol’s global tools to fight all types of crimes.

AIGP Bigyan Raj Sharma, chief of the main organising committee, said the conference would bring together over 250 heads of police and law enforcement officials from 55 countries to discuss crime-related problems.

Interpol convenes regular regional conferences in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia to share experiences and discuss ways to tackle common crime issues. “Victim-based crimes like human trafficking and sexual exploitation, operational capabilities of Nation Central Bureaus (of Interpol member countries) in Asia, counter-terrorism measures, cybercrime trends, ways to tackle organised crime network and threat to environment and wildlife will be discussed in the three-day conference,” informed AIGP Sharma, adding Nepal Police would raise the issue of gold smuggling to Nepal from foreign countries.

He said the conference would mainly focus on strengthening regional efforts against transnational crime and criminal networks.

Other issues that will figure throughout the conference and one-on-one meeting between law enforcement officials are drug smuggling, sports integrity and tackling match fixing, trafficking in illicit goods and counterfeiting, as well as capacity-building.

“The conference will be an important platform for Interpol member countries in the region to share experiences and best practices, and to forge law enforcement partnerships against crime and terrorism.

Transnational crime is a common enemy,” said AIGP Sharma, who is also the chief of the Crime Investigation Department of Nepal Police.