FBI, Interpol assisting in establishing Gibbons' identity
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Houston is yet to receive a response from the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Interpol to the queries it had been sent about Edgar Garfield Gibbons. Gibbons was deported in April 1999 to Guyana in the belief that he was a Guyanese after he had served a one year sentence for marijuana possession. It was his second offence and he had previously served a four-year sentence for a similar offence. Public Affairs Officer for the INS Houston Office, Luisa Aquino, told Stabroek News that the INS had sought the assistance of the FBI and Interpol but was yet to receive a reply. However, she said that she expected that a response should be forthcoming in the next few days. Aquino also refused to disclose the information being pursued as she said that the investigation was still in progress. Head of the Consular Section at the US Embassy, Vincent Principe, also had no updated information except to say that the INS office in Houston had a team dedicated to the investigation. He too could not say when the investigation was likely to yield any results. The investigation being conducted is to determine Gibbons's nationality. The embassy has claimed that it is unable to issue him with any documents because the information Gibbons had given on oath could not be verified. This information relates to his date and place of birth, his parents both of whom he claims are deceased and the schools he attended. As a result they have determined that he is not an American. The authorities here have also determined that he is not a Guyanese. The INS has also been in touch with a Guyanese of the same name, Edgar Gibbons who migrated to the US in 1978 and has being living in the New York Tri-State area. Meanwhile, Gibbons who is languishing at the holding facility at the Brickdam Police Station is frustrated at the efforts of the US authorities to prove that he is not American. He told Stabroek News that the immigration form which was sent with him to Guyana had an FBI tracking number and he says whenever they are finished jumping around they will come to the realisation that he is an American.
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