French police have launched an investigation into the disappearance of the head of Interpol, after he went missing during a visit to his native China last week.
Meng Hongwei, a 64-year-old senior official in the Chinese Communist Party, was reported missing by his wife Friday after she had failed to hear from him since he returned to China six days earlier.
Her complaint was filed in Lyon, the French city where the couple and their children live, and where the headquarters of the international police cooperation agency is based.
In a statement, Interpol said that it was “aware of media reports in connection with the alleged disappearance” of Meng and that “relevant authorities in both France and China” were looking into it. The international organization would not comment further.
Meng, who was previously China’s vice minister of public security, was elected to lead the international body in 2016, amid the objection of rights groups who feared China could use his appointment to push for the extradition of dissidents from overseas.
news.vice.com/en_us/article/zm9wdw/the-head-of-interpol-has-vanished