An 11-month old girl and her mother are believed to have been kidnapped from their home in New Haven this afternoon. An Amber Alert for the two has been issued.
Mexico City, on May 24, 2017 – Amber Alert coordinators Mexico, United States and Canada program met today in the trilateral forum of this emergency response system. Amber Alert is a system that distributes information on missing children. The goal of the forum is to establish stronger mechanisms for international coordination of Amber alerts. The forum proposed new mechanisms will support the ability of each country to respond quickly to cross – border cases of missing children. The forum was organized by the Development Office, Judicial Assistance and Training (OPDAT) Department of Justice, along with the Attorney General’s Office, under the Merida Initiative.
During the forum, participants discussed the protocols and procedures that the three countries have implemented. Countries continue to work together to institutionalize communication, cooperation and coordination in cases of missing children. During the opening of the forum, senior legal advisor Ray Gattinella OPDAT reinforced this message and said: «behind every statistic there is a face, a family, a girl or a boy, a teenager at risk. Why prompt action by the authorities is so important to allow rescue. »
At the request of the PGR, OPDAT Mexico supported the implementation of the Amber Alert in Mexico in May 2012. From the trilateral forum in 2016, Amber Alert systems in Mexico and the United States, in coordination with the National Center for Missing Children and Exploited EU, they have joined forces in several international cases of missing children. Amber Alert is a central component of OPDAT program against trafficking in Mexico, a program worth 2.3 million dollars under the auspices of the Merida Initiative.
The Merida Initiative is a bilateral agreement for cooperation on security between Mexico and the United States. At eight years of implementation, the Merida Initiative has provided tangible support to Mexican security and judicial institutions, it has promoted efforts to stop drug trafficking, and strengthened border security. Until today, the Merida Initiative has delivered thousand 600 million dollars in equipment, training and technical support to the government of Mexico.
