MEXICO CITY - The office of the Attorney General of the Republic of Mexico and the Federal Secretariat for Public Security has confirmed to INTERPOL that the investigation concerning the Director for International Police Affairs at Mexico’s Federal Investigative Agency has not so far produced any evidence of improper use of INTERPOL’s communication system or of the Organization's databases by any Mexican law enforcement official.
The confirmation that the investigations concerning Ricardo Gutierrez Vargas, who is Head of Mexico’s INTERPOL office and has been placed under ‘40-day provisional arrest’ are in relation to the possible use of domestic police intelligence, connected with events occurring in 2004 when the offences being investigated were committed, and do not relate to information from INTERPOL, comes following a meeting between officials from the Sub-Attorney General's and International Affairs Offices for Specialized Organized Crime Investigations of the Republic of Mexico, the Sub-Secretariat for Strategy and Police Intelligence of the Federal Secretariat for Public Security and INTERPOL General Secretariat staff.
During the meeting, it was agreed to take stronger prevention measures to guarantee the security of information held in the INTERPOL communication system.
The Government of Mexico and INTERPOL have reiterated their commitment to the fight against corruption and stated that any such investigations should be vigorously pursued with due respect for the law.
For their part, the INTERPOL representatives acknowledged the strenuous efforts being made by the Mexican Government in the difficult task of countering organized transnational crime.
INTERPOL and the Mexican authorities agreed to work together and to take the appropriate measures to verify that the tools made available by INTERPOL are properly used and to provide full confirmation that no offence has been committed with regard to their use.