Antigua y Barbuda ANTIGUA Y BARBUDA

Región: Las Américas
Oficina Central Nacional: Saint John’s
Fecha de adhesión: 6 de octubre de 1986
How INTERPOL supports Antigua and Barbuda to tackle international crime.

Fighting Caribbean crime

Located on the crossroads between the American continent, the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the islands of Antigua and Barbuda sit on a trafficking corridor linking a drug-producing region with the world’s drug-consuming markets.

The international characteristics of drug-related crime – such as trafficking in firearms or money laundering - make the role of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in the region crucial to preserving national and regional security.

INTERPOL in Antigua and Barbuda

The INTERPOL NCB in Saint John’s serves as the national cooperation platform for sharing and collecting intelligence on the crime areas which most affect Antigua and Barbuda, particularly as it relates to wanted people and emerging crime trends linked to Caribbean organized crime.

Part of the Criminal Investigations Department, the NCB is structured around the crime areas that most affect Antigua and Barbuda, and which can only be tackled through international police cooperation:

  • cybercrime
  • drug crime
  • fugitive investigations
  • stolen travel documents
  • trafficking in human beings

With its direct links to police forces in all continents, the Saint John’s NCB helps the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda to monitor the wider organized crime picture and to take action against it.

Antigua and Barbuda national police services

Law enforcement in Antigua and Barbuda is carried out primarily by the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, which is headed by a Police Commissioner and comprises more than 750 staff members.

In the absence of a navy or air force, a 250-strong Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force assists the police in maintaining public order in cases of emergency. The Defence Force includes the Coast Guard and reports directly to the Minister of National Security.