Why did Philip Morris fund Interpol?

It sounds almost implausible, yet Philip Morris did indeed fund Interpol, by cheque, and even signed an agreement with the international police organisation.

Funding that raises eyebrows

Interpol is an international police organisation headquartered in Lyon, the idea of creating such a body having originally come from France and from Edmond Locard, a professor of forensic medicine.

Interpol’s creation was a fraught business. The organisation nevertheless came into being and now has 195 member countries. Recognised by the United Nations for the past 50 years, its role consists chiefly in tracing people through a system of colour-coded notices: red for suspects, yellow for missing persons and black for unidentified bodies. Blue notices are used to gather information, while green ones flag individuals considered a threat to public safety.

Over those 50 years, Interpol has been through many controversies. It is regarded as a poorly resourced institution, with a budget of 136 million euros for 995 staff working on 19 databases holding 66,000 active records in total. Member countries struggle to pay their contributions, which is why the organisation now turns to private funding.

Private funding for Interpol: an ethical problem

For an international police organisation, private funding is viewed with suspicion. In 2011, for example, the 20 million euros provided by FIFA caused a good deal of ink to flow, particularly in the light of the corruption affair in which the football body was implicated.

That same year, however, a contract with Philip Morris set off a real storm. The 15 million allocated by the cigarette manufacturer were earmarked solely for training police officers to gather intelligence on cigarette smuggling. Critics see it as lobbying, plain and simple, and as something that sweeps aside the organisation’s impartiality.