Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader has issued a sweeping call to law enforcement agencies across the Americas to deepen cross-border collaborative frameworks, share real-time operational intelligence, and launch synchronized joint operations to eliminate safe havens for transnational organized criminal groups operating across the hemisphere.
Delivering the opening address at the 16th Ordinary Summit of the Community of Police of the Americas (Ameripol) hosted in the Dominican capital, Abinader emphasized that contemporary criminal activity has long outgrown the scope of individual national jurisdictions, evolving from a localized public safety concern into a borderless regional and global threat that cannot be contained by isolated national security strategies. “Crime does not stop at arbitrary national borders; it is regional, it is international, and criminal networks deliberately exploit gaps between separate national legal and policing systems to expand their illicit operations,” Abinader told the assembled global security delegates.
The Dominican head of state further framed robust citizen security as a non-negotiable foundational prerequisite for sustainable economic growth and improved quality of life for all residents. He outlined that his administration has overhauled national security protocols by establishing a dedicated inter-agency task force that convenes on a weekly basis to map emerging crime patterns, align enforcement responses, and track measurable outcomes of public safety interventions. “Even a single homicide, even a single instance of violent robbery, is one too many for our nation,” Abinader remarked, while openly acknowledging that persistent security challenges remain a top policy priority for his government.
Abinader also underscored the critical value of multilateral police summits as a platform for exchanging field-tested best practices, on-the-ground operational experiences, and classified threat intelligence, noting that long-term institutional partnerships and mutual trust between national law enforcement bodies are the bedrock of effective coordinated action against transnational criminal threats.
As part of the summit proceedings, Ameripol conferred its highest distinction, the Grand Extraordinary Order, on President Abinader, in formal recognition of his administration’s landmark contributions to advancing citizen security standards across the region and championing cross-border international police cooperation. Dominican National Police Director Major General Ernesto Rafael Rodríguez García was also honored with the official Ameripol Order, in tribute to his exemplary leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing collective regional security goals.
Dominican Republic Interior and Police Minister Faride Raful used her address at the summit to reaffirm her country’s unwavering commitment to cracking down on the full spectrum of transnational illicit activities, including drug and weapons trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, cross-border cybercrime, and transnational money laundering. Raful also highlighted the ongoing comprehensive institutional transformation of the Dominican National Police, and stressed the urgent need for regional governments to ratify the Brasilia Treaty, a landmark accord that would grant Ameripol formal independent legal personality to streamline its cross-border operational capacity.
The high-profile summit convenes hundreds of senior security representatives from leading global multilateral bodies, including Interpol, the Organization of American States, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the European Anti-Fraud Office, alongside senior police and national security authorities from 18+ nations spanning Europe, Oceania and East Asia, including Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and South Korea.
Abinader opens XVI Ameripol Summit bringing together police delegations from the Americas, Europe and beyond
