On May 14th, 2018, a fugitive who had fled abroad and evaded capture for seven years was arrested by Chinese police as he/she attempted to enter China on a Canadian passport.
Though holding foreign citizenship, the fugitive was identified through facial recognition systems at the border as wanted for the crime of embezzlement of company funds. After the crime, the suspect escaped to Canada using a fake identity in 2011 and obtained a Canadian passport in 2017.
“After using a fake identity, the suspect evaded police for seven years,” said officer Luo from Huizhou Municipal Public Security Bureau. “However, with the help of big data and facial recognition technology, we traced the suspect enroute and confirmed their identity when he/she entered China.”
With the application of new technology such as big data, cloud computing and facial recognition systems to investigation, Guangdong police has comprehensively refined its ability to track fugitives.
Guangdong police apprehend fugitives.
According to a press conference held by the Guangdong Public Security Department on August 2nd, as of July 31st, Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department had launched several special operations to apprehend economic crime suspects who had previously fled abroad, with about 60 million RMB in losses recovered and 62 suspects from over 20 countries and regions seized.
“Guangdong police will take smart policing as the lead, innovate in our means of tracking down fugitives, make the most of high technology to improve the police force’s ability to tackle crime accurately.” said Huang Peifu, Political Commissar of the Economic Investigation Bureau of Guangdong’s Provincial Public Security Department. “We will deepen our cooperation with international police, and strive to safeguard national security and social stability.”
Huang stated that Southeast Asia countries, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United States are the main destinations targeted by fugitives.
Guangdong police apprehend fugitives.
At the press conference, Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department appealed to people from home and abroad to report any leads on fugitives through the official website (http://www.gdga.gov.cn/jmlx/jbfz/), Weibo (@平安南粤) and WeChat public account (search for 平安南粤 on WeChat).
For whistleblowers who provide clues and assist the police in apprehending fugitives, Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department will reward them according to the relevant terms and conditions.
Guangdong police stressed that all whistleblowers’ information are strictly confidential and will remain protected.
Author: Steven Yuen, Phoebe Yang
Editor: Simon Haywood
