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Intelligence


Federal Investigation Agency
(Agencia Federal de Investigación, AFI)

In 2001, the PGR restructured the Federal Judicial Police (Policia Judicial Federal), and renamed it the Federal Investigation Agency (Agencia Federal de Investigación, AFI). According to the Prosecutor General's AFI inaugural speech in June 2002, the former Policia Judicial Federale was inefficient due to its lack of structure and coordination. It was also known to be more reactive than proactive, undoubtedly affecting the quality of its investigations. Furthermore, the PGR itself has clearly recognised that the Policia Judiciale Federale was rife with police corruption, giving rise to constant human right violations and impunity, causing, in turn, a lack of trust by citizens in the police. Therefore, the authorities considered as crucial the restructuring as well as a name change, thus hoping to give the AFI a better image in public opinion. However, AFI's image, although better than its predecessor's, is not yet entirely satisfactory.

Since 2001, AFI staff received extensive training on domestic and international aspects of crime investigation, including intelligence and data analysis, money laundering and fiscal reforms. Nevertheless, police representatives mentioned the need for more resources, including adequate training and suitable technologies, especially for matters concerning transnational bribery. Indeed, by 2002, there was no specific training on bribery of foreign public officials, or on the different stages at which corruption occurs in international transactions, or on the difference between bribery of foreign public officials and bribery of Mexican public officials, or on different detection mechanisms, etc.

In December 2006, the new administration of President Felipe Calderón announced the re-structuring of the Secretariat of Public Security. With this, the PFP was to be transformed into the Federal Police Corps (Cuerpo Federal de Policía - CFP), which was to absorb "all federal law enforcement capabilities," including the powerful Federal Investigation Agency (Agencia Federal de Investigaciones - AFI) from the Office of the Attorney General, customs, immigration, and corrections.




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