The Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF) of the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP) based at the Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Salvador (El Salvador) on 9 August sucessfully detected and investigated Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, wanted for 12 years by the FBI and INTERPOL on charges of arson, destruction of an electric tower and other acts of terrorism that occurred in the U.S. in the 1990s and 2000s.
Arriving from Quito (Ecuador), the suspect attempting to travel to Russia via El Salvador and Cuba was detected by the JAITF team, which after preliminary interviews recommended further investigation. The passenger was allowed to board the flight to Cuba. Nevertheless, the investigation confirmed that while travelling with a genuine document under a different name, the passenger was in fact Joseph Mahmoud Dibee. The international coordination between the Government of the United States and Cuban authorities resulted in the successful arrest of Dibee, upon his arrival at José Martí International Airport in Havana (Cuba).
This commendable demonstration of international collaboration and coordination serves not only as an example of the success of the AIRCOP project at the national level in El Salvador, but also strongly highlights the impact of international collaboration and cooperation between law-enforcement agencies.
The AIRCOP JAITF in San Salvador consists of 19 law-enforcement officers from Immigration, Customs, Police and INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) and actively coordinates with national and international partners in its day to day duties.
