Tampa International Airport (TPA) TSA Officer Haofeng Chen, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English, used his translation skills to assist the FBI in an international parental kidnapping case recently, according to an employee story from the TSA.
Late on a recent Friday night, Assistant Federal Security Director-Law Enforcement (AFSD-LE) Kevin Grooms received a request from the FBI for a Mandarin Chinese speaker to assist with a reunion of a kidnapped victim and a family member.
“Along with being the AFSD-LE, I am a part of the Tampa FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and work closely with the FBI whenever they are involved with anything at the airport,” said Grooms. “Because the reunion (of the child and family) was taking place at TPA, I was notified that (FBI) agents would be on-site to assist the victim. The FBI was doing everything possible to make the victim and their family feel safe and comfortable, so they inquired if TSA had any personnel who spoke Mandarin, the primary language of the victim and their family.”…