Protecting Argentina’s 9,300-kilometer border with Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay requires significant attention from the Gendarmería Nacional Argentina (GNA), the country's 70,000-person border guard force located in the capital city of Buenos Aires. The GNA, as well as their border force colleagues in neighboring countries, must also grapple with cross-border crime that take advantage of the close ties among the region’s economies. According to Interpol, illicit markets in these border regions may be worth tens of billions of dollars.
“As criminals exploit the interconnected economies of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, only greater coordination between the three countries’ police forces will bring about a step change in the region’s fight against organized crime,” said José de Gracia, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Criminal Networks Unit, in December 2019.