Mexican police tracking down cult school leader

Denmark has called for assistance to find former Tvind school leader Mogens Amdi Petersen, who may be hiding in Mexico

The Copenhagen Post/January 6, 2014

The search continues for one of Denmark’s most wanted men, as Mexican police have agreed to start an investigation to find the former leader of the controversial Tvind school project, Mogens Amdi Petersen.

“Mexican authorities have received an order to arrest and deport him,” Jose Manjarrez, a spokesperson for Mexico's public prosecutor, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. "We haven’t found him yet, so the search continues.”

Petersen went underground in 2006 and was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison for financial crimes by the Western High Court in Aarhus in August of last year.

Confirmed by foreign ministry

The head of the Foreign Ministry’s citizen service, Ole Ekberg Mikkelsen, confirmed that they have reached out to Mexican officials.

“It’s correct that we have asked the Mexican authorities for assistance in searching for the Danes who have been charged in this case,” he told Jyllands-Posten.

There’s currently an arrest warrant issued for Petersen and four co-defendants in the 120 countries worldwide that co-operate with Interpol.

Tvind operates an international teacher’s school, TG Pacifico, on the Paficic coast in northern Mexico. Police have suspected Petersen of being in Mexico since he was spotted there by a Tvind defector in 2010. His arrest warrant means he can’t leave the country using his own passport.

No extradition treaty

While there is currently no extradition treaty between Denmark and Mexico, Danish Ambassador Susanne Rumohr Hækkerup said last year that Mexico may still be open to co-operate.

“Mexico has become a more integrated part of international police investigations, and we see far more extraditions today than we did 15-20 years ago,” she told Jyllands-Posten.

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