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Suspected smuggler sent back to US
Co-operation between police in China and the United States resulted in the extradition of US suspected smuggler Gu Wenzhen from Shanghai on Friday, the Ministry of Public Security announced. Gu, 48, was arrested in November 2001 by US law enforcement officers, accused of conspiracy to bribe civil servants and smuggling goods into the United States. While free on bond, Gu fled to Shanghai from the US. In August 2004, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, asked the Chinese police for assistance on the arrest and repatriation of Gu. With the arrest notice from Interpol and other US documents, the Chinese police took Gu into custody, the statement noted. The move has enhanced the bilateral co-operation on fighting crime between the two countries, said Guo Bei, an official of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. The joint efforts will also help simplify the repatriation procedure, combat international crime and punish defendants who flee to other countries, he added. China has been strengthening its co-operation with foreign countries to seize runaway alleged criminals, including drug dealers and corrupt officials who face charges. The Sino-US co-operation on law enforcement and legal exchange were made possible after the signing of a joint agreement, reached during the visit of then-President Jiang Zemin to the United States in October 1997. A Sino-US liaison group for law enforcement co-operation was established in 1998, and the Criminal and Judicial Assistance Agreement took effect in 2001. |
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