WHAT'S NEW

Success Stories

28 Jan 2008
INTERPOL Enters Search for Fugitive Marine

WASHINGTON—The INTERPOL-United States National Central Bureau (USNCB), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, has requested the issuance of an INTERPOL Red Notice seeking the world-wide location, apprehension, and extradition of Cesar Armando Laurean-Ramirez. Laurean-Ramirez is the North Carolina Marine wanted for 1st Degree Murder of a missing Marine from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Working closely with the investigating agencies, the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and the Onslow County District Attorney's Office, as well as the FBI, the USNCB broadcasted an international "All Points Bulletin" to law enforcement agencies in 185 countries and the INTERPOL General Secretariat, located in Lyon, France on January 26, 2008.

This information and the Red Notice are placed in law enforcement databases in INTERPOL's member countries to assist law enforcement officers in locating the fugitive. If the fugitive is located, foreign police authorities will immediately notify the USNCB, and in many countries will detain the fugitive. The Red Notice is the formal wanted notice published by the INTERPOL General Secretariat and contains information on the fugitive, the facts in the case, and the charges filed against him by Onslow County authorities. The Notice is distributed to all member countries in four official languages, English, Spanish, French, and Arabic and remains in effect until the fugitive is captured.

"The INTERPOL Red Notice is a powerful tool that can assist North Carolina authorities in locating and apprehending Laurean and is placed not only in foreign law enforcement databases and border lookout systems, but the central database queried by all 186 INTERPOL member countries. We are here to assist the authorities in Onslow County at an international level to locate and bring this fugitive back to North Carolina to stand trial," advised Martin Renkiewicz , the Director of the USNCB and a senior Department of Homeland Security law enforcement official.

11 Jan 2008
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Becomes 64th INTERPOL Liaison Office

WASHINGTON—The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) has been designated the official point of contact for INTERPOL matters within Los Angeles County, INTERPOL announced today. This new designation applies to all areas within the county except the city of Los Angeles, which will maintain its own point of contact within the city.

In order to combat the increasing globalization of crime, it is crucial for the United States' state and local police authorities to be able to communicate with, and access information from, their international counterparts. The communication network and database resources of INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization, are ideally suited for this purpose. To address this need, the U.S. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL (USNCB), the United States' official representative to INTERPOL and a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, in coordination with state and local authorities, has established "INTERPOL Liaison Offices". LASD becomes the 64th U.S. law enforcement agency designated to meet this need, joining existing offices in each of the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Boston, New York, Chicago, the city of Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Miami-Dade County, Houston, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Foreign investigative requests that have a nexus with Los Angeles County will be forwarded to the LASD by the USNCB for appropriate investigation and response. Conversely, LASD will channel local requests that require international investigation to the USNCB for transmission to the appropriate INTERPOL member country or countries. Additionally, LASD will educate police throughout its jurisdiction of its affiliation with the USNCB and the various ways in which INTERPOL can be of investigative assistance.

The combined resources ofthe LASD and the Los Angeles Police Department (which has an existing INTERPOL Liaison Office and covers the city of Los Angeles) represent one of the largest metropolitan jurisdictions dedicated to international law enforcement cooperation through use of the INTERPOL network. The security of greater Los Angeles' area approximately 10 million citizens is enhanced by this cooperative effort.

"Our goal is to bolster homeland security through enhanced partnerships with our domestic and international law enforcement colleagues. The recent establishment of the LASD INTERPOL Liaison Office directly supports this goal," said Martin Renkiewicz, a representative of the Department of Homeland Security serving a three-year term as the Director of the USNCB.

12 Sep 2007
U.S. Law Enforcement Gains Direct Access to INTERPOL Criminal Databases

WASHINGTON—The U.S. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL (USNCB) today announced that it has provided the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Law Enforcement Support Center (ICE LESC) in Burlington, Vermont, with direct access to criminal records from law enforcement agencies in 186 INTERPOL member countries.

LESC is a critical point of contact for the U.S. law enforcement community. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide information on the immigration status and identities of individuals who have been arrested or are under investigation for criminal activity. In 2006, the Center supported 800,000 inquiries from state and local law enforcement nationwide. At the touch of a button LESC law enforcement technicians will now be able to search INTERPOL's indexes on foreign Fugitives, Stolen Vehicles and Lost/Stolen Travel Documents.

Historically, U.S. access to INTERPOL databases was limited to the USNCB, a component of the U.S. Department of Justice and the official U.S. point of contact for all INTERPOL matters. In an effort to bolster homeland security through enhanced information sharing, the USNCB has initiated an ambitious connectivity program to provide the 18,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies with directquery access to INTERPOL data.

LESC's access to INTERPOL data is made possible through a customized international query on the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS). With more than 500,000 devices in the U.S. and Canada, NLETS seamlessly connects 18,000 law enforcement agencies with close to 1 million users, and transmits more than 50 million messages each month. The USNCB is pursuing agreements with each state to incorporate INTERPOL database queries for all NLETS users within a state's jurisdiction.

LESC joins an ever-expanding list of U.S. police departments having direct query access through existing law enforcement networks: New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami-Dade, Houston, San Diego, Los Angeles and most recently the Virginia State Police.

"Our goal is to provide direct, international query capability to each federal, state, and local law enforcement agency in the United States and, ultimately, to the officer on the street. LESC connectivity directly supports this goal," said USNCB Director Martin Renkiewicz. Renkiewicz is a senior ICE Agent, currently serving a three-year term as USNCB's Director.

31 Jan 2006
David Race Bannon Arrested in Colorado

Washington, D.C.—David Race Bannon, who claims to have worked for INTERPOL as a "hit man," was arrested on Friday, January 27, in Boulder, Colorado for criminal impersonation. Bannon is the author of Race Against Evil—The Secret Missions of the INTERPOL Agent Who Tracked the World’s Most Sinister Criminals.

Using his alleged background as an INTERPOL agent and expert in human trafficking, Bannon is compensated for speaking engagements and subject-matter training courses. The Colorado Department of Public Safety confirmed that Bannon had solicited fees in excess of $3,000 for a two-day training course on human trafficking.

Working in collaboration with the U.S. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL, the INTERPOL General Secretariat (Lyon, France), and other INTERPOL member countries, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation deems Bannon’s credentials to be bogus and his efforts to profit from the deception to be illegal. He is charged with criminal impersonation, computer crime and attempted theft.

In 2004, the INTERPOL General Secretariat issued the following statement:

"INTERPOL's General Secretariat in Lyon has no record of David Race Bannon having been employed and no knowledge of individuals mentioned in Mr. Bannon's book. INTERPOL exists to facilitate the exchange of information between the world's law enforcement agencies and to provide analysis of criminal data and other services. Accordingly, the claims in Mr. Bannon's book can only be seen as deceptive and irresponsible fantasy."

The above disclaimer was nationally broadcasted to U.S. law enforcement by the U.S. National Central Bureau.

Bannon is scheduled for his first district court appearance on February 2. For additional information, please contact Carl Blesch, Public Information Officer, Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, (302) 271-6868.