Naval agents tackle crime

By REBECCA TORR

AS fans of American TV series NCIS will know, the US Navy can be a tangled web of suspense.

Murder and espionage investigations can follow hunts for terrorists and stolen submarines, as special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his elite team of forensic specialists piece together clues from their latest crime scene.

However, the work facing real-life Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents in Bahrain is no less important.

Almost 50 NCIS investigators based here are working behind the scenes, in close collaboration with Bahrain's Interior Ministry, to tackle human trafficking, narcotics and other crimes.

They account for most of the 60-plus agents located across the GCC and have primary jurisdiction over any crimes that occur inside the US Naval base, Juffair.

Investigations conducted by NCIS agents included the fatal shooting of two female sailors by a US serviceman at the base in 2007, as well as the mysterious death of a US sailor at her home in Muharraq last year.

However, NCIS assistant special agent-in-charge Glenn Roessler revealed there was a close relationship with Bahrain's Interior Ministry - particularly when it came to tackling drugs.

"We keep our finger on the pulse because we have young people handling information and equipment and we want them to be at their best," he told the GDN.

"We concentrate on identifying and neutralising drug trafficking and pushers.

"We have to make sure anyone that tries to sell illegal drugs is targeted and we do this in collaboration with the Interior Ministry."

He said drugs available in Bahrain included hashish, cocaine, heroine, ecstasy and crystallised methamphetamine - but denied any suggestion that the US Navy had a drug problem.

"The main drugs in Bahrain are hashish and heroin and we haven't seen a problem with the military," said Mr Roessler.

"In the last 18 months I have been here, we probably had four cases of narcotics violations that we know of.

"The Navy is representative of society and we have challenges, even though they are very small we have to monitor them."

He also revealed that the NCIS was helping Bahraini police tackle human trafficking - by identifying who was actually behind prostitution rackets.

"Some prostitutes are victims of human trafficking and some personnel that get involved with them won't know this," he explained.

"So we are trying to neutralise this terrible crime of human trafficking, which is worldwide."

While the NCIS has primary jurisdiction at the base, investigations off-base come under the jurisdiction of the Bahraini authorities.

Mr Roessler discussed details of the NCIS on the sidelines of a meeting of the American Women's Association at the Golden Tulip Hotel.

He was accompanying NCIS security specialists Joana Alvarado and Sharon Justice, who were invited to speak about the mission of NCIS in Bahrain and the GCC.

"With the Ministry of Interior's human trafficking department, who are mainly women, we liaise with embassies that have human trafficking issues," explained Ms Justice, who has been in Bahrain for the last eight months and in the region for the past seven years.

She admitted the work of the real NCIS was very similar to the storylines of the US television series, adding that writers on the show might actually base their scripts on interviews with real officers.

Investigations could focus on procurement fraud, family and sexual violence or crimes against government property.

"We carry out operations in navy ports to reduce narcotics in that area," added Ms Alvarado, who has been in Bahrain since 2006.

"We work with our counterparts in Bahrain, so we work in conjunction with them.

"We investigate crimes against people and we have a cold cases squad that reviews death investigations."

NCIS personnel are primarily civilians employed by the US Department of Defence.

They have to undergo a 20-week training course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centre, Georgia, where they learn topics such as how to conduct a criminal scene investigation and gain self-defence skills. becky@gdn.com.bh