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AG: Fugitives cannot hide in the CNMI
Attorney General Edward Manibusan has assured that his office is on top of ensuring that criminals won’t look at the CNMI as a possible haven where fugitives from justice can enter and hide.
This comes in the wake of the recent extradition of Sean McDonnell to Illinois to face charges of criminal sexual assault and predatory criminal sexual assault of a child.
McDonnell, who arrived in the CNMI last October, was immediately captured in a joint effort by the U.S. Marshalls and the Department of Public Safety.
On Dec. 29, 2017, McDonell was extradited to Illinois, accompanied by two CNMI law enforcers where he will be facing the charges against him.
According the Manibusan, criminals should not underestimate the CNMI law enforcement and justice system.
“They’re mistaken as there are procedures and safeguards in place to ensure that people who come to the CNMI are people without any criminal background… We have the U.S. Immigration who has their own procedure, we have Customs who do their investigations, we have our own local police that handle all of those things and we have other agencies that conduct investigations,” he said.
“McDonell is an example of how we can catch these people. We have access to National Crime Information Center and Interpol. The CNMI is not a place for people to hide because we will catch them,” he added.
According to Manibusan, 2018 will be a year of strengthening ties and conducting many trainings with law enforcements and other departments.
“The Attorney General’s Office will continue to work with DPS to conduct more training for them that will assist in the prosecution of cases,” he said.
“We have a lot of things going on in terms of consumer protection. There are number of things that we are considering and one is bringing new people to run different agencies with legal services,” he added.
