President Khoo Boon Hui officially presents the INTERPOL flag to Samoa as they become the organization's 188th member country at the recent General Assembly.

Mr Noble met with the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, recently-appointed Commissioner of the Samoa Police and Prison Service, Lilomaiava Mr Fou Taioalo, and other senior officials at police headquarters where he was briefed on ongoing recovery efforts following the recent tsunami which struck the South Pacific region, in which nearly 200 people lost their lives.

Praising Samoa’s decision to join INTERPOL even while responding to the tsunami, Secretary General Noble said that Samoa had a great deal to offer the wider global policing community as the organization’s 188th member country.

Mr Noble said that Samoa’s commitment to international policing was also highlighted during an INTERPOL-led operation targeting nearly 500 cases during which a rape fugitive wanted by New Zealand was located and identified in Samoa in June – four months before it became an INTERPOL member country.

"Samoa joining INTERPOL is an important step forward, not only for the South Pacific but in enhancing police co-operation around the world, and we hope that its membership will encourage other countries in the region which are not yet members of INTERPOL to follow its lead,” said Secretary General Noble.

The Secretary General also visited the new INTERPOL National Central Bureau and the Pacific Transnational Crime Co-ordination Centre (PTCCC) based in Samoa. The country serves as the regional hub of the Pacific Transnational Crime Unit Network, and manages and co-ordinates law enforcement intelligence provided by the Network and regional law enforcement agencies.

“As host of the Pacific Transnational Crime Co-ordination Centre, Samoa plays an integral role in law enforcement co-operation in the region and now as INTERPOL’s 188th member country, will help close the gap in the global policing community,” added the head of INTERPOL.

Samoa’s membership of INTERPOL means it can now access INTERPOL’s I-24/7 secure police communications system, key operational police support services, a network of National Central Bureaus across INTERPOL’s other 187 member countries, and a range of global databases, including INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database containing some 19 million entries.

Mr Noble’s mission to Samoa follows a series of high-level meetings in the region, including with Commissioner of Australian Federal Police, Tony Negus, Australia’s Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Brendan O’Connor, Commissioner of New Zealand Police, Howard Broad and Hon. Judith Collins, New Zealand Minister of Police.