The arrest of a Dutchman suspected in the killing of a woman in Peru following close liaison between INTERPOL’s National Central Bureaus in Lima and Santiago, supported by INTERPOL’s 24-hour Command and Co-ordination Centre at the General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon has been praised by the head of the world police body as a ‘perfect example of police co-operation in international investigations.’
Joran van der Sloot, aged 22, was expelled to Lima on Friday after being taken into custody by Chilean police the previous day in the coastal town of Vina del Mar after INTERPOL Peru alerted the international law enforcement community that he was wanted in connection with the death of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez, whose body was found in a Lima hotel room on Wednesday 2 June.
“This case is a perfect example of international police co-operation in combining collaboration and action by INTERPOL National Central Bureaus on the ground and the ability for these to instantly share and communicate information on wanted persons by our Command and Co-ordination Centre and Fugitive Unit at our Lyon headquarters,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.
“Van der Sloot’s arrest is a credit to law enforcement authorities in Chile and Peru and once again demonstrates the power and effectiveness of international co-operation between police in obtaining information to identify, locate and apprehend fugitives around the world,” added Mr Noble.
In a separate case, Van der Sloot remains a named suspect by authorities in Aruba in the disappearance on the Caribbean island of 18-year-old US citizen Natalee Holloway on 30 May, 2005. INTERPOL issued an international missing persons alert (Yellow Notice) for the teenager following her disappearance, which still remains valid.
Van der Sloot was arrested but never charged over her disappearance. However, he faces an arrest warrant by US authorities in Alabama on charges of extortion and wire fraud linked to that case.