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01/26/04
 In
this global age, what does it take today to catch a thief?
Or a terrorist? Or wanted fugitives who flee from justice
across several time zones?
It takes
law enforcement partnerships. Partnerships that not only span
the oceans, but that bridge the often sizeable gaps created
by different cultures, languages, legal systems, technologies,
and ways of doing things.
What
makes these partnerships work? Sometimes, it's a sense
of camaraderie and professionalism. Other times, it's a realization
that support flows both ways: my help for you today will mean
your help for me tomorrow. But more often than not, it's simply
the bottom line: a mutual dedication to justice and the rule
of law.
Two recent
local-turned-multinational investigations drive home the importance
of global partnerships... yet again.
Crossing
the Great Wall
In the summer of 1999, a Chinese citizen named Zesheng Wang
strangled his girlfriend to death with his bare hands in the
suburbs of northern Virginia. Wang quickly and quietly fled
to his native land, where he spent the next four years hiding
in the vast expanse of that countryside.
The FBI
and its U.S. partners in the case -- the Fairfax County Police
Department -- concluded that Wang had indeed fled to China,
probably to his hometown, the city of Lanzhou in the Gansu
Province. Law enforcement authorities in China offered to
help... and they did, in a big way. Working with Special Agents
in D.C. and Beijing, they conducted an extensive manhunt.
They located Wang and arrested him. Now, Chinese authorities
are going to make the case as well... because their country's
laws do not allow for the return of one of their own citizens
to the United States for trial.
Two
European Neighbors to the Rescue
Just days after Christmas, Paul Goldman allegedly killed his
mistress in cold blood, stabbing her repeatedly in the chest,
throat, and face at her real estate office in suburban Philadelphia.
Goldman, a naturalized citizen from Uzbekistan, fled to Paris
and on to Dusseldorf, Germany.
Law enforcement
authorities in both France and Germany began a thorough manhunt,
with the help of FBI Agents here and overseas, other federal
investigators, and police professionals in Bucks County. Last
week, Goldman was located and arrested in the southeastern
French city of Grenoble.
These
cases make it clear why supporting and partnering with colleagues
around the world is one of the FBI's top priorities today...
and why it's one of our most effective weapons in the fight
against crime and terrorism.
Related link: The
Press Release
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