The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado; and her counterpart in Peru, Liz Patricia Benavides Vargas, held a meeting to assess and establish joint strategies in the fight against organized crime that affects the region; in addition to exchange experiences related to good practices in investigation and prosecution.
“The result of this visit in the framework of the judicial exchange between the Colombian Attorney General’s Office and the Peruvian Attorney General’s Office is significant (…) First of all, we established joint operations and operations between the Attorney General’s Offices on environmental issues related to the work carried out by the AIAMP Environmental Protection Network. Likewise, we shared experiences in the fight against corruption in specific cases, in order to improve the strategies that Colombia and Peru have in the fight against public and private corruption”, said the Attorney General of Colombia, Francisco Barbosa, in Lima
Among the issues that were addressed by the prosecutors were judicial cooperation and the exchange of successful experiences to confront organized crime, crimes such as cybercrime, money laundering, and corruption that occur in both nations.
The head of the Colombian General Attorney´s Office highlighted that, as part of this joint work with the neighboring country, eight structural investigations are planned for crimes related to money laundering, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
In addition to this, there is a proposal for coordinated work with Peru, in an attempt to decrease the crimes of illegal exploitation of natural resources and environmental degradation in the border area. This initiative will be promoted within the framework of the Environmental Protection Network of the Ibero-American Association of Public Ministries (Asociación Iberoamericana de Ministerios Públicos AIAMP).
This seeks to strengthen the investigations that are carried out in both countries, on issues related to illegal mining, deforestation, the exploitation of illicit deposits, and the trafficking of fauna and flora, among others. In addition to carrying out joint operations that allow to impact and prosecute criminal structures involved in the illicit exploitation of environmental resources in the border area.
“In essence, it is an exceptional work with the Attorney General´s Office of Peru, which also shares common issues with Colombia in terms of migrant smuggling, public safety, the fight against drug trafficking and environmental protection, essentially attacking illegal mining”, stated the Attorney General Francisco Barbosa.
Another key aspect of this meeting was related to the education and training of judicial officers from both countries. The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office granted virtual quotas for officials in the region who want to strengthen their investigative capacities in the fight against different criminal phenomena.
The head of the Colombian institution also shared the strategy that is carried out in terms of economic impact on the different criminal structures, including those related to drug trafficking, where it seeks not only to attack them criminally but also to affect the finances used to commit crimes through assets seizure processes.
Regarding corruption, he highlighted the advances made in the country against officials and local leaders who have wanted to appropriate public resources.
This visit of Attorney General Francisco Barbosa Delgado to Peru is part of the meetings held by the head of the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, as president of the Ibero-American Association of Public Ministries (AIAMP) which seeks to strengthen joint actions in the fight against crime that affects different countries in the region.