Barbados BARBADOS

Region: Americas
National Central Bureau: Bridgetown
Member since: 3 November 1981
How INTERPOL supports Barbados to tackle international crime.

Fighting Caribbean crime

Lying between the American continent, Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, Barbados sits on a drug trafficking corridor between producers and consumers.

Monitoring this large expanse of waterways poses a serious law enforcement challenge, as the region is becoming an attractive hub for organized crime networks wanting to discreetly engage in a multitude of crimes.

The international characteristics of drug-related crime, and its links with firearms trafficking, trafficking in people and money laundering, make the role of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in the region crucial to maintaining national and regional security.

INTERPOL in Barbados

The INTERPOL NCB is located at the headquarters of the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) in the capital Bridgetown. Its direct links to police forces in all continents helps the RDPF to monitor the wider organized crime picture and to take action against it.

Through the exchange, storage and cross referencing of global operational and actionable intelligence, the NCB helps the RBPF to detect, track, report and prohibit the flow of illicit goods along existing and new trafficking routes and thereby safeguard national borders.

INTERPOL Bridgetown is part of the RBPF Administration Support Division.

Royal Barbados Police Force

The RBPF is headed by a Police Commissioner who serves also as the Head of NCB Bridgetown, although the responsibility for daily operations is delegated to an NCB Administrator.