Secretary-General of International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), Ronald Noble, arrived in the island yesterday for a two-day visit during which he will examine a border control system that has been implemented in Jamaica ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup next month.

“Jamaica is one of the first five countries in the world that have this state-of-the-art global border protection system from Interpol,” Noble told the Observer shortly after his arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.

According to Noble, the passport of every foreigner who comes to Jamaica now will be checked by immigration, after which it will be checked against Interpol’s database on stolen passports, which now has 13 million passports.

“We are just here to make sure that they have everything that they need and we are going to be there for the entire seven days of the Cricket World Cup,” Noble added.

Jamaica is Noble’s first stop on a list of five countries that have implemented the system. The four other countries are Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana.

The Caribbean, Noble added, will be the first region in the world to be completely connected to a global database on stolen passports, stolen travel documents and Interpol wanted person notices for the first time in history. Prior to the system being implemented in Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean, Switzerland was the only other country where it was implemented. Eight of the nine countries hosting the Cricket World Cup have the system up and running.

“I am proud that Jamaica and other countries in the Caribbean are the first region in the world that is protected,” Noble added.

He also pointed out that a team has been in the island since October last year overseeing the implementation of the system. However, he refused, for security reasons, to disclose the number of persons in the team.

The system has been implemented courtesy of the Canadian Government, which donated CD$250,000 for the purposes of putting the system in place in the region.

“Our goal is for the entire world to have the system,” Noble told the Observer. “Interpol has 186 countries and we want all of them to have the same kind of border protection.”

Noble was scheduled to meet with Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas yesterday and will be speaking with personnel at the National Intelligence Bureau and with local representatives of Interpol today. He is also slated to meet with Security Minister Peter Phillips.

Interpol is the world’s third largest international organisation, after the UN and FIFA with 186 member countries.