The 11th Meeting of the INTERPOL Americas Working Group of Heads of Cybercrime Units took place from 31 August to 4 September 2026 in Asunción, Paraguay, bringing together 70 representatives from 19 countries across the Americas and 13 representatives from public and private organisations to strengthen regional co-operation and operational responses to the growing and increasingly transnational threat of cybercrime. Some sessions were restricted to law enforcement agencies to exchange ongoing cases and share good operational practices.
Hosted by the National Police of Paraguay, mainly NCB Asuncion and the Cybercrime Unit, the meeting provided a platform for Heads of Cybercrime Units to discuss the cybercrime landscape in the region, enhance the intelligence exchange between member countries and with the private sector, find operational opportunities and discuss how INTERPOL can support investigations more effectively in the American region.
Supported by the European Union and the Council of Europe through the GLACY-e and CyberSPEX projects, with INTERPOL as an implementing partner, the meeting builds on the continued work of the Americas Working Group as the main annual event in the region to strengthen the mechanisms for law enforcement co-operation across the region. Over successive meetings, the Working Group has addressed a range of emerging cybercrime challenges, including operational co-operation, open-source analysis, virtual assets and digital forensics, while fostering both formal and informal channels of co-operation.
The meeting highlighted the increasing number of cybercrime cases in the region, facilitated by the growing use of Artificial Intelligence and crypto-assets by criminal organisations, which are contributing to the industrialisation of cybercrime.
To address the challenges, participants agreed to further strengthen operational co-operation, using the four specialised subgroups created in the region and focused on cyber fraud, phishing, malware and ransomware, with the aim of achieving concrete operational results. Member countries were encouraged to support INTERPOL-led operations in the Americas, like Nightshade or Sunset, and to share relevant operational information with INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate to facilitate intelligence and operational support.
The Working Group also reaffirmed the importance of public-private and international co-operation, encouraging continued engagement with organisations such as the World Economic Forum, the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), as well as greater private-sector participation in meetings and operational activities. With the recent creation of the Americas Cybercrime Operations Desk, the meeting reinforced the shared commitment to turning regional co-operation and information sharing into concrete results in the fight against cybercrime.
