PHUKET, Thailand – Assisting Southeast Asian countries to identify and collect profiles of known and suspected individuals involved in the manufacture or use of explosives was the focus of the first Project Watchmaker Working Group Meeting.
Attended by eight Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, and led by INTERPOL’s Chemical and Explosive Terrorism Prevention Unit, the meeting (2 and 3 June) established a framework for identifying targeted profiles and uploading key information to INTERPOL’s Project Watchmaker database.
Funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the meeting also provided a platform for sharing intelligence on bomb makers and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) methodologies so as to assist member countries identify, locate or arrest suspected and known individuals and link them to INTERPOL Notices through biometric travel document data.
INTERPOL can issue Orange and Purple Notices to exchange information with its member countries on the technical aspects of IEDs – including modus operandi, components, construction, concealment methods, and related threats to the general public, law enforcement and the military.