Hammouchi attends the 8th meeting of INTERPOL Police Chiefs for the MENA region

The Director General of National Security and Territorial Guard, Abdellatif Hammouchi, took part in the 8th meeting of INTERPOL Chiefs of Police for the Middle East and North Africa region, held at INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon on 3 and 4 September.

Mr Hammouchi chaired the Moroccan delegation that took part in this important security meeting, which brought together the heads of security and police services from the MENA region, Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and Mauritania, the Directorate-General for National Security (DGSN) said in a press release.

During the meeting, the Kingdom’s national security services were able to present their experiences in combating new forms of crime and discuss emerging security challenges in the region, including the fight against organized crime, financial flows resulting from hacking, threats of online recruitment and radicalization, financing through cryptocurrencies, the risks of terrorist attacks using drones and atypical threats, the same source said.

The Moroccan delegation presented a comprehensive overview of experiences and information exchange regarding the fight against cybercrime and its new forms, particularly in light of the growing threat posed by the misuse of new technologies for criminal or terrorist purposes.

During this meeting, INTERPOL presented various solutions, IT applications and databases that demonstrate how the organisation responds to new threats and risks. This includes the development of INTERPOL’s biometric platform, the assessment of the international criminal threat and the measurement of INTERPOL’s analysis and intelligence network, as well as the support and assistance mechanisms that INTERPOL offers to Member States in the areas of training and the fight against different forms of transnational crime.

In the margins of this meeting, Mr. Hammouchi held bilateral talks with Neal Jetton, the new Director of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Division. During these talks, they discussed projects and prospects for joint cooperation between Morocco and INTERPOL to combat the risks associated with the use of technologies in criminal and terrorist organizations.

Mr Hammouchi also paid a field visit to Interpol’s “Command and Coordination Centre”, the same source said. He added that he held discussions with senior officials on mechanisms to strengthen cooperation in cross-border investigations and international prosecutions of internationally wanted persons.

During the meeting, the Moroccan delegation also held bilateral and multilateral discussions with senior officials from INTERPOL and security and police forces in the Middle East and North Africa on ways to coordinate efforts to address security challenges and risks from a joint and collective perspective and to monitor the regional and international impact of organised crime and terrorism, the press release concluded.