The world has shrunk considerably in the past 100 years as we all know. Not the planet itself of course, that may well be the same diameter as it has always been, but relative to time. The shrinkage probably started when the first steamships plied the world’s oceans, making the building of the Suez Canal a viable proposition. When it opened, the journey time from Europe to the Far East was reduced considerably: Then, the Panama Canal which cut out the long haul around Cape Horn. Not long after, as aeroplanes developed, air travel dramatically reduced the time taken to go from one side of the earth to the other. Then the internet provided instant global communication. People began to talk about, “The global village.” It had indeed become a reality.
People and information move between countries and across oceans more easily than they moved between counties in former times. That is true of all kinds of activities, both legitimate and nefarious. Investigations into those of a more dubious nature naturally have to follow. Therefore it is hardly surprising that the scope of investigations frequently becomes international.
For the private detective you engage to follow such a global trail himself or herself would usually be prohibitively expensive for you, the client. However, almost every country in the world has private investigators operating in its territory. Many of them even have regulatory structures within which private detectives have to operate, whilst the industry in the UK is still patiently waiting for HM Government to deliver on the promise made by the then Home Secretary, now PM in 2013 to introduce such a system without delay.
Take as an example, the Russian Federation: a country which seems to be always in the news for one reason or another. Many of the scams and fraudulent businesses which infest the internet seem to be based there. No doubt they take care to operate only abroad and so avoid attracting the interest of the Russian authorities.
However, Russian firms of private investigators do exist, operating within the Federation’s extensive boundaries. They are in fact registered and their activities are regulated by the state. For anyone interested in such things, Federal Law Number 2487-1, “On Private Detective and Security Activity in the Russian Federation,” is the relevant legislation.
So, even if the trail leads into the mean streets of Moscow or a small town in Siberia, your UK private investigator can make contact with a reputable Russian private detective to carry on the investigation over there. The same applies almost anywhere in the world. All is not necessarily lost, just because the subject has managed to disappear overseas.