Highlights from the 44th ASEAN Chiefs of National Police Conference (ASEANAPOL), held in Manila, Philippines, from 22–26 July 2026 and hosted by the Philippine National Police. Under the theme “United in One Vision: Ensuring the Safety of People and Strengthening Collaboration,” the five-day conference brought together 186 delegates from ASEAN member states, the ASEANAPOL Secretariat, dialogue partners and observer organisations.

The conference focused on strengthening practical regional cooperation against major transnational threats including drug trafficking, terrorism, arms smuggling, human trafficking, wildlife crime, financial crime, cybercrime and maritime crime. Discussions also centred on intelligence sharing, joint operations, forensic cooperation, training and capacity building, with the wider aim of ensuring ASEAN policing moves beyond dialogue towards coordinated action against threats that no single country can tackle alone.

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Key takeaways

• The 44th ASEANAPOL Conference brought 186 delegates together in Manila for five days of regional policing cooperation.
• The 2026 theme was “United in One Vision: Ensuring the Safety of People and Strengthening Collaboration.”
• Police chiefs focused on strengthening cooperation against drug trafficking, terrorism, cybercrime, human trafficking and other transnational threats.
• Intelligence sharing and closer operational cooperation were identified as central to improving regional security.
• The conference reinforced the importance of joint action against criminal networks that operate across national borders.
• ASEANAPOL continues to develop interoperability through training, staff exchanges and specialist networks such as the ASEANAPOL Forensic Science Network.
• Dialogue partners including INTERPOL and the Korean National Police Agency remain important to wider regional collaboration.
• The overall message from Manila was clear: ASEAN policing wants to move from discussion towards practical, coordinated action.

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