Labuan Bajo, NTT (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s National Police (Polri) Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo emphasized that cooperation between ASEAN countries is the main key to eradicate transnational crimes.Prabowo made the statement at the 17th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), on Monday. “Efforts in cooperation and coordination are the key to dealing with transnational crime as our common enemy,” he stressed. Prabowo noted that amid the current global situation, ASEAN countries were able to become centers of world economic growth. This is in line with this year’s ASEAN chairmanship theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth.” The Police chief also stated that stability and security in the region are the keys to maintaining the positive growth trend that has been built. However, in maintaining stability and security, ASEAN countries face a serious threat from transnational crimes that are very complex in nature. In responding to this complexity, the general affirmed that he had held a working group meeting, the 23rd Senior Officials’ Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC), and other related meetings. “We exchanged views on the latest transnational crime trends, such as the misuse of technology in various criminal activities, transnational crime hot spots, new criminal mode developed to evade detection by law enforcement, and cooperation between different transnational crime groups,” he outlined. Prabowo affirmed that his side is committed to intensifying cooperation with various forums and mechanisms, such as information exchange, technology utilization, capacity building, police-to-police cooperation for the handling of joint investigations, mutual legal assistance, and extradition. He revealed that the Indonesian police also evaluates existing regulations, frameworks, law enforcement capacity, and cooperation in order to be more effective and adaptive in dealing with the developments in transnational crimes. Prabowo remarked that the AMMTC meeting was a strategic forum for sharing views in determining strategies, policies, and real efforts to tackle transnational crimes in the region. He drew attention to changes in the existing cooperation framework to optimize the effectiveness of handling transnational crimes, protect witnesses and victims, and increase public awareness of the risks of transnational crimes.
Source: Antara News Agency