Page 197 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

rants at national level, to have the possibility to hand fugitives in all 190 Interpol
member countries, unless the specific country decides to publicise the national
warrant only in some countries for investigative reasons.

Notices are classified on a colour-based system, that helps investigators in
member countries to ask for more information in order to identify criminals.
For example, in terms of environmental crime, we often apply the purple noti-
ce to seek or provide information about specific modus operandi used by cri-
minals. The red notice, instead, is used to seek the location and arrest of fugi-
tives. Last year, jointly with 40 member countries, we organised the very famous
and successful operation Infra-Terra, through which we have identified 139
fugitives.

We follow this protocol for operations either to focus on specific world
regions or on specific crime areas. For example, sometimes law enforcers may
in fact not have the sufficient information to identify a target and obtain an
arrest warrant or they may well have an international arrest warrant but not
ready to publicise it at international level for extradition, or even with a clear
national arrest warrant ready to go internationally this may not be considered a
priority for other countries. So, the principles of teamwork and international
cooperation underpin the whole concept of Operation Infra according to the
different crime areas.

Another crucial factor for us is awareness and communication. One way
of supporting the need to increase awareness and communication is by provi-
ding specific training, which is fundamental if we want our law enforcers to
understand and fight this particular kind of crime. As a matter of fact, in 2015
we have seen a 50% increase in the use of our notices related to environmental
crime, which is a clear sign of higher awareness in terms of importance of
committing to the fight against crimes related to pollution, fisheries, wildlife
etc.

During the course of this conference, we have often heard about the need
to develop a global strategy in order to have a collective approach. To this end,
in 2012 Interpol created the Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
Committee (ECEC), which brings together senior officials and decision-makers
from all our 190 member countries to provide strategic advice on relevant

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