EXCLUSIVE: Czech police confirm ‘intervention’ involving Zaldy Co

No less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been issuing updates on the arrest of fugitive and former congressman Zaldy Co in Prague, posting on his social media accounts three times in the last week.

In the absence of visual proof, however, his political opponents have tried to cast doubt on the information that he has given.

Rappler reached out to Czech authorities even before Marcos’s announcement of the arrest. They confirmed hours after Marcos’s announcement that police action involving Co indeed took place.

“We inform you that we can confirm that an intervention involving the named individual took place in the Czech Republic,” the Office of the Criminal Police and Investigation Service of the Police Presidium of the Czech Republic told Rappler in an email in their local language on Friday, April 17. Rappler translated the contents of the letter via Google Gemini.

The said office, however, declined to provide more details, saying it cannot verify this writer’s identity in person, and is therefore unauthorized to disclose more details.

“If you require specific information, please contact the police in your country, which can request the necessary information through international police cooperation via Interpol,” the Police Presidium said.

According to its website, the Office of Criminal Police and Investigation Services in the Czech Police Presidium is tasked with “ensuring coordination of cooperation with international organizations in accordance with valid international agreements, foreign police institutions and security forces,” and “participating in international judicial cooperation.”

Marcos first announced Thursday night, April 16, that Co has been detained in Prague after crossing into the Czech Republic without proper documentation.

On Friday, April 17, he said Co was stopped at the German border after entering from the Czech Republic.

Co, who has been the face of the biggest scandal that the Marcos administration has endured, has active warrants in the Philippines from his graft and malversation cases stemming from anomalous flood control projects. His Philippine passport has been canceled.

Marcos said on Monday, April 20, that a high-level team will be sent to Prague to coordinate Co’s repatriation. – Rappler.com