Now You See Me (2013) is an action thriller featuring an ensemble cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco, as a team of magicians and illusionists. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman star as their benefactor and debunker, while Mark Ruffalo plays FBI agent Dylan Rhodes and Mélanie Laurent plays French Interpol detective Alma Dray. Actors Common and Michael Kelly also play FBI agents.
Premise: An FBI agent and an INTERPOL detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. (IMDb)
During Now You See Me, FBI agent Rhodes partners with French Interpol detective Alma Dray.
Guess what? Contrary to the film’s portrayal of Interpol as a global police force conducting raids and arrests, Interpol has much different real-world functions. It is not a law enforcement agency with detectives who investigate cases.
Since I review movies and TV shows to discover teachable moments about FBI policies, procedures, and programs, a review of how the FBI works with Interpol in real life is appropriate. Here’s what I learned.
INTERPOL, an acronym for the International Criminal Police Organization, is based in Lyon, France, and has seven regional offices located around the world. Staff members are former law enforcement with expertise in various transnational criminal violations, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, human smuggling, cybercrime, organized crime, and fraud. However, they primarily act as advisors as part of a global network for national police forces attempting to track and apprehend suspects.
INTERPOL has no law enforcement authority.
INTERPOL fosters collaboration among its 196 member countries, who share data on crimes and criminals and take advantage of a range of technical and operational support provided by the organization.
A member country can request a Red Notice to alert police worldwide of a wanted fugitive or a Yellow Notice for a missing person thought to be traveling abroad, such as in a parental abduction of a child. These notices are published as global alerts, mostly for police use only. The agency that requested the alert is responsible for the apprehension of a globally wanted fugitive after he or she is located.
The FBI’s involvement is managed by INTERPOL Washington, which is also called the United States National Central Bureau (USNCB). The mission of the USNCB is to facilitate international police cooperation as the United States representative to INTERPOL and to serve as the primary nexus for sharing criminal justice, humanitarian, and public safety information between United States law enforcement authorities and their international counterparts in the other INTERPOL member countries.
The FBI is one of several federal and state law enforcement agencies that assigns its personnel to work at the USNCB. These FBI agents help facilitate international investigations, locate fugitives who have fled abroad, and track down international criminals impacting the U.S. (Credit: INTERPOL – United States National Central Bureau)
I haven’t interviewed a retired agent about working with INTERPOL. However, to learn more about how the FBI liaises with various foreign law enforcement and government entities at NATO, listen to FBI Case File Review episode 295: Shannon McGarry – The FBI in Brussels and NATO.
