NICARAGUA

Tackling crime in Nicaragua

Nicaragua is located between North and South America with coasts in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. This strategic geography makes Nicaragua attractive to organized crime groups wanting to link drug producers with drug consumers using land, air and maritime trafficking routes.

The main crime challenges Nicaraguan law enforcement faces include drug trafficking, money laundering, and trafficking in firearms, people and counterfeit goods.

With regional organized crime networks invariably operating on a global level, the role of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Nicaragua is crucial to safeguarding national and regional security.

INTERPOL in Nicaragua

The INTERPOL NCB in Managua is Nicaragua’s lead agency for taking national criminal investigations beyond national borders when Nicaraguan law enforcement needs to work with police forces in other countries and continents.

The NCB is an operational unit, meaning NCB police staff can exercise police power across the country on behalf of the national police, including the power of arrest.

By providing globally-sourced intelligence about regional crime, the NCB helps police officers across the country to detect and investigate the flow of illicit goods along trafficking routes in and around the country. It plays a central role in preventing the country and surrounding region from serving international organized crime.

Law enforcement in Nicaragua

Law enforcement services in Nicaragua are provided by the National Police Force, which answers directly to the President of the Republic.