US and Vietnamese law enforcement authorities coordinated the capture and return of two US citizen fugitives located in Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau City. Photo by the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security.
Vietnam Police officials from the Office of Police Investigation Agency, under the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security, arrested two US fugitives this month based on US federal arrest warrants.
The first fugitive was charged in the United States on ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and was on a top ten most wanted list in the US state of Arizona.
The US state of South Carolina charged the second fugitive for drug manufacturing, distribution, purchase, and possession.
Both subjects fled the United States, initiating international fugitive investigations. The United States Marshals Service, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the Diplomatic Security Service, Criminal Investigative Liaison Branch in Washington, DC, and the Office of Overseas Criminal Investigations at the US Embassy in Hanoi coordinated with the Office of Police Investigation Agency, who after months of investigative work, located and arrested the fugitives in Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau City.
On October 23, 2020 both fugitives departed Vietnam for the United States under US Marshals Service escort.