INTERPOL Executive Committee selects Brazil’s Valdecy Urquiza as its candidate for next Secretary General

LYON, France – Valdecy Urquiza of Brazil has been proposed by INTERPOL’s Executive Committee as a candidate to be the next Secretary General of INTERPOL, the world’s largest global police organization.

The candidacy of Mr Urquiza will be submitted to INTERPOL’s supreme governing body, the General Assembly, for endorsement during its meeting in Glasgow, United Kingdom. If endorsed by a majority of INTERPOL’s 196 member countries, he will assume office at the end of the term of the current Secretary General – Mr Jürgen Stock of Germany – on 7 November 2024.

The Secretary General of INTERPOL is the Organization’s chief official and is appointed for a five-year term in office.

The President of INTERPOL Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi said:

“The Executive Committee is delighted to select Mr Urquiza as its candidate to be the next Secretary General of INTERPOL.

“With the significant rise in transnational crime, INTERPOL’s work has never been more important. As well as maintaining INTERPOL’s neutrality, the next Secretary General will be charged with working with our member countries to continue the important work to tackle international criminal activity, building policing capacity and capability, and ensuring our systems continue to be used to catch the most dangerous criminals in the world.

“Mr Urquiza impressed the Executive Committee with his experience, vision and commitment to international policing. He brings significant experience of policing, as a senior police officer in Brazil, a former member of INTERPOL staff and as INTERPOL’s Vice President for the Americas.”

Valdecy Urquiza is a Federal Police Commissioner and currently holds the position of Director of International Cooperation at the Brazilian Federal Police. Since 2021, after being elected by INTERPOL's General Assembly, he also serves as the Vice President of INTERPOL for the Americas. Previously, he was the Head of the International Legal Cooperation Division of the Brazilian Federal Police and Assistant Director in the Organized and Emerging Crimes Directorate at INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France. In Brazil, Mr Urquiza has also led the National Central Bureau of INTERPOL, the Division of International Police Cooperation, the Division of International Relations, and the Directorate of Information Technology of the Federal Police.

Mr Urquiza holds a law degree from Universidade de Fortaleza, Brazil, and postgraduate degrees in Public Administration from IBMEC and Environmental Law from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, USA. Valdecy Urquiza is married and has two children.