INTERPOL Washington helps Canada close a 19 year-old murder case

INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB)--investigative work played a key role in locating one of Canada’s ten most wanted persons. On December 16, 2016 a Canadian jury convicted John Boulachanis, 42, of first degree murder.  In 1997, Boulachanis murdered Robert Tanguay, 32, in Riguad, Quebec, Canada, and then lived as an international fugitive under various aliases in Canada and the United States for over a decade.  During this time he was sought by Canadian authorities and was the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice. Boulachanis remained out of sight for years until Canada’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Ottawa asked INTERPOL Washington to assist in the cold fugitive case because of new leads developed in Quebec.

 To break this case, investigators in Canada and the United States shared and disseminated lead information between the two INTERPOL NCBs, and used all resources available to Canadian and U.S. investigators in a concerted effort to locate and apprehend Boulachanis. For the United States, INTERPOL Washington served as a centralized information repository in the effort to assist Canadian law enforcement with the location and capture of the fugitive in June 2011. INTERPOL Washington reviewed historical records and conducted analysis related to the fugitive and his aliases and collected information from U.S. law enforcement agencies which assisted in Boulachanis’ apprehension in Canada. The apprehension of Boulachanis was the result of outstanding cooperation and collaboration by INTERPOL Washington; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (Florida); the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (Virginia); Surete du Quebec – Canada, Major Crimes Unit; and INTERPOL Ottawa.

A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.