Traitor is an international conspiracy thriller drama starring Don Cheadle as a Sudanese-American arms dealer and covert operative. Guy Pearce and Neal McDonough play FBI special agents, and Jeff Daniels has a cameo as the mysterious “Carter.”
Premise: When straight-arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton and his FBI partner Max Archeras head up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer Samir Horn. (IMDb)
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. While watching, I thought about the writing craft quote by Christopher Vogler in The Writer’s Journey, “Every villain is a hero of his or her own story.”
Although Don Cheadle’s character Samir Horn is being hunted by the FBI for terroristic acts, the viewers are shown his perspectives and motivations behind the choices and actions he takes throughout the film. Even though I did not condone the things he did, I understood him.
Assigned to what I assume is the FBI New York Office’s Extraterritorial Squad, SA Clayton and SA Archeras are deployed to Yemen and then to France after Americans have been killed in terrorist attacks there and in Spain. The agents worked with their foreign law enforcement partners in both countries to investigate the terrorist cell behind the bombings.
One of the terrorists was captured and brought back to the United States for interrogation and prosecution. They learned from him that Samir, using the skills he learned as a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, trained members of the cell on how to make bombs.
I review movies and TV shows to discover teachable moments about FBI policies, procedures, and programs. During Traitor, the FBI is conducting investigations and making arrests outside of the United States. A review of extraterritorial jurisdiction seems to be an ideal topic to address.
Criminal jurisdiction is typically limited to a geographical area where a crime occurred and is determined by the laws of the relevant country. However, certain American criminal statutes have an extraterritorial reach that extends beyond US borders. Extraterritorial jurisdiction provides congressional authorization for the FBI to investigate terrorist acts in which Americans are harmed or killed, no matter where the acts occur. You can read the law, issued on June 21, 1989, here: Authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to Override International Law in Extraterritorial Law Enforcement Activities.
Retired agent Raj Patel further explained it this way, “If an American finds themselves overseas and they get killed in a terrorist attack, there are federal laws that allow the Department of Justice to investigate the suspects and bring those suspects, even though they are foreign nationals, to justice. Because of that, the FBI created these extraterritorial squads.”
During his Bureau career, Raj Patel was assigned to an extraterritorial squad in the Los Angeles Division, which covers all of Asia. Other major field offices also stand up extraterritorial squads with agents ready to be deployed around the world at a moment’s notice. Depicted accurately in Traitor, New York covers Europe and parts of Northern Africa. The Miami Division covers Central and South America; and the Washington Field Office covers other parts of Africa and the Middle East. Agents working abroad coordinate their duties with the Legal Attaché representing the Bureau in those countries and have State Department approval and host country clearance.
Of course, when a subject who has committed an extraterritorial crime overseas enters the U.S. illegally, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) assigned to relevant field offices will assist in the domestic investigation.
To learn more about extraterritorial jurisdiction, listen to these FBI Case File Review episodes:
364: Raj Patel – Sri Lanka Easter Bombings 2019, Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
154: Ali Soufan – USS Cole Bombing, The Black Banners
110: Oliver “Buck” Revell – Operation Goldenrod, G-Man’s Journal
016: John Cosenza – Extraterritorial Jurisdiction & Global Threats
