The Foreign Service Journal, September 2005

38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 F O C U S O N D I P L O M A T I C S E C U R I T Y DS G ETS I TS M AN n one tour of duty in Belize, Thad Osterhout has hunted down a cop-killer, suspected crack cocaine dealers, a man who allegedly raped a mentally retarded woman and several pedophiles. He even helped return a boy kidnapped by his father. And that was the fun part of his job. Osterhout, a career agent in the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Bureau, just wrapped up three-and-a-half years as the Regional Security Officer at the U.S. embassy in Belize. While his primary responsibility was the security of the embassy and its staff, Osterhout spent about half his time chasing after a motley assortment of wanted criminals who fled to the tiny Central American nation to evade U.S. justice. For years, with its poorly-paid police forces, rampant corruption and spotty extradi- tion treaties, the entire region has been seen as a haven for fugitives. But at least in some countries, things are starting to change. In all, DS helped return 104 fugi- tives from 40 countries last year, up from about 80 the year before. This year looks even better. In Costa Rica alone, for example, agents brought back 11 fugitives in the first six months of 2005. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security has traditionally been extremely press-shy, but officials granted rare access to its operations and staff in Belize. Here, work- ing with a government that has become increasingly enthusiastic about cooperating, Osterhout has helped return some 57 fugitives to the United States. The U.S. Marshals Service traditionally has the lead role in hunt- ing fugitives, but with field offices in only three foreign countries, it leans heavily on DS — and its agents in 159 countries. For Osterhout, this sometimes means simply helping other U.S. law enforcement agencies navigate the complex array of paperwork needed for deportations or extraditions. But the Belize govern- ment has granted Osterhout a surprising amount of leeway to conduct actual investigations. Authorized to carry a concealed weapon 24 hours a day, he regularly runs his own inquiries, often calling in the police only for the actual arrest. Dangerous, Dicey at Times The work can be quite dangerous at times. On April 29, 2003, Osterhout received a call from the Marshals Service, which was pursuing a violent criminal, Michael Webster, wanted for drug trafficking and sex- ual abuse of three children (and later charged with C OLLABORATING WITH U.S. AND FOREIGN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IS AN IMPORTANT , IF UNDERPUBLICIZED , COMPONENT OF THE D IPLOMATIC S ECURITY B UREAU ’ S WORK . B Y K EVIN W HITELAW I