Mchunu leads senior police delegation to Interpol general assembly

Police minister Senzo Mchunu and national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola led a delegation of senior police officers to Interpol’s annual general assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, last week. 

The 92nd general assembly, held from November 4 to 7, brought together police chiefs and senior officials from around the world to collaborate and strengthen efforts to combat transnational organised crime, cybercrime, counterfeit drug trafficking and human trafficking. 

“The South African delegation engaged in bilateral discussions with their counterparts from various countries on the sidelines of the Interpol general assembly. The bilateral meetings were aimed at strengthening co-operation and operational strategies in the shared responsibility of fighting against transnational crime,” police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said. 

She said all parties acknowledged the significant challenges posed by narcotics trafficking, cybercrime and organised criminal networks. The parties outlined specific areas of collaboration to combat these threats. 

Mchunu also met Brazil’s minister of justice and public security Enrique Ricardo Lewandowski and his vice minister Datony Xu.

“They discussed, among other things, the importance of real-time intelligence sharing to track and dismantle criminal networks across borders and as well the urgent need to bolster cybercrime units in the fight against cybercrime.

“They also agreed to have joint training initiatives to build skills in areas such as cybersecurity, digital forensics and cyber intelligence.” 

The South African delegation included the head of the Hawks Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya, deputy national commissioner for policing Lt-Gen Tebello Mosikili, divisional commissioner for detective and forensic services Lt-Gen Hilda Khosi Senthumule, Mchunu’s special adviser Vusi Pikoli and the head of Interpol's national central bureau in Pretoria, Brig Ntime Mokhine. 

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