The head of Interpol, who vanished after taking a flight to Beijing, is being held and investigated for corruption, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said in a statement Monday (Oct 8).

Meng Hongwei, who also was a vice minister of public security in China, has been accused by the Chinese government of accepting bribes and committing unspecified other crimes.

"(Meng) insisted on taking the wrong path and had only himself to blame (for his downfall)," the country's top law enforcement official, Zhao Kezhi, was quoted as saying in the statement.

Authorities had previously remained tight-lipped about the whereabouts of Meng, following his sudden disappearance last month after he flew from France to China.

In an earlier statement released on Sunday, the Chinese government said Meng was "under investigation" by the National Supervisory Commission, the country's top anti-corruption unit, but gave no further details on whether he was in custody or what the charges might be.

Concerns over Meng's whereabouts were first raised by wife, Grace, who reported him missing to French authorities in the city of Lyon, where the couple live, last Thursday.

She was moved to contact authorities after she received a final text message on September 25, shortly after he arrived in China, with a knife emoji and instructions to "wait for my call."

That call never came.

The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based newspaper known for its connections inside the Chinese government, said Meng was "taken away" for questioning upon landing last week. The newspaper cited an unnamed source.

In a separate development, Interpol said it had received Meng's resignation from the international police agency with "immediate effect" according to statement posted Sunday. It made no mention of the former president's whereabouts or the Chinese investigation.

Source: CNN

BDST: 2140 HRS, OCT 8, 2018
AP