INTERPOL DNA Match Helps Identify Serial Rapist

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An international partnership between INTERPOL and National Central Bureaus located in Washington and Vienna, resulted in the exchange of critical information on Jan. 26, 2010, that led to the arrest of an Afghan national suspected of serial rape in Austria and California.

Ali Achekzai, 32, who has been wanted in California for more than five years on rape charges, was arrested on Tuesday, Jan. 26, near Salzburg, Austria, after a successful DNA match was made that tied him to two rape cases in Southern California.

"This is a great example of how we work with both our domestic and international partners to pursue individuals who have fled jurisdictions after their involvement in criminal activity and bring them to justice," said the USNCB Director, Timothy Williams.

In 2002, Achekzai was charged by California authorities with assault. In 2004, Achekzai was charged by the California authorities for raping two women in Orange and San Diego counties.

After the alleged rapes, Achekzai fled to Canada and later to Austria where unsuccessful attempts were made to apprehend him.

In 2009, Achekzai was arrested by Austrian police on rape charges in that country. Austrian police officials took a DNA profile from Achekzai at the time of his arrest.

In 2009, at the request of the California state authorities'- INTERPOL Liaison Office, the U.S. National Central Bureau – a sub-component of the Department of Justice – searched for a DNA match of Achekzai against the INTERPOL DNA database, including DNA databases of INTERPOL's 188-member countries. INTERPOL's global DNA database matched the profile with another request submitted by Austria as part of an investigation into a rape in Salzburg in April 2009.

If convicted in California, Achekzai faces a maximum sentence of 53 years and four months to life in prison.

Austrian officials are coordinating with the Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs to extradite Achekzai back to the United States.

The suspect is known to have lived in Afghanistan, Germany, Canada, Austria and England.

"There is no way that this arrest could have been made without INTERPOL's global DNA database," said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble. "This is a perfect example of the added value INTERPOL can bring to any investigation anywhere in the world, making connections between what appear to be unrelated cases."

WWW.JUSTICE.GOV/USNCB

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

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