BOLIVIA

Tackling organized crime in Bolivia

Bolivia is a landlocked country located at the heart of South America, sharing borders with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Peru. Regional organized crime groups use this 6,800 km of remote and often mountainous border lines to smuggle people and illicit produce, particularly drugs, in and out of the country.

Because the drug trade comes with fierce competition for available markets, some of the crime areas also affecting Bolivia include extortion, kidnapping, murder, firearms trafficking, trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling. These crime areas all pose a security threat to the people and security of Bolivia.

INTERPOL in Bolivia

The international nature of these crime areas make it important for Bolivia to work with police across the world in determining the global connections with Bolivian crime. The INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in La Paz enables the national police to do this.

A large portion of the NCB’s activities focus on tackling organized crime, particularly smuggling of illicit products, economic and high-tech crime and trafficking in people. Fugitive investigations are also a high priority for NCB La Paz.

With its direct links to police forces in all continents, the NCB in La Paz is able to help national police monitor the wider organized crime picture and take repressive measures against it.

National law enforcement in Bolivia

Law enforcement services in Bolivia are provided by the Policía Nacional de Bolivia (PNB), which falls under the command of the Minister of Interior.

NCB La Paz works with other INTERPOL offices located within law enforcement units across the country. There is also an NCB office at the National Police Control Police Unit, and at major land and air border points.

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