LYON, France – An INTERPOL-led operation targeting 450 fugitives convicted or accused of serious crimes including murder, child sexual abuse, rape and drug trafficking has resulted in more than a quarter being arrested or located.
So far, under Operation Infra-Red (International Fugitive Round-Up and Arrest – Red Notices) 131 fugitives have been arrested or located in 32 countries and new information on 357 of the 450 cases has been received. This will now be analyzed by officers at the INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters and in each of the organization’s 188 National Central Bureaus.
A request for public assistance in identifying the whereabouts of 30 fugitives targeted by the 29 participating member countries taking part in Operation Infra-Red resulted in tip offs being received from across the world on 25 of these cases.
“We are very pleased with the results of this operation, and particularly the feedback and information we have received from members of the public,” said Operation Infra-Red co-ordinator Martin Cox, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support (FIS) unit.
“Some of these fugitives have been on the run for years so we were not expecting to solve these cases overnight, but instead build up a better picture of where they have been and where they might be, which will significantly increase the chances of them being arrested in the future,” said Mr Cox.
“All of these fugitives, who may have thought that they are no longer wanted now realise that this is not the case, and that INTERPOL and all of our member countries are working hard together to find and bring them to justice,” he concluded.
The operation, which was launched on 3 May, saw investigators from the participating countries and agencies, including Crimes Stoppers International working together at the INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France, enabling investigators to directly share case details on their suspects.
Examples of some of the Operation Infra-Red international successes:
Aliaksandr BARANKOV wanted for bribery by Belarus, arrested in Ecuador; Elziane Neres LIMA wanted by Brazil for murder, arrested in the US; Marian SOARE wanted by Belgium for trafficking in human beings and prostitution, arrested in Romania; Shawn SULLIVAN wanted by the US for child sex offences, arrested in the UK; Philip HACK wanted by Austria for kidnapping, assault and fraud, arrested in Thailand; Mouamba MUNANGA wanted by France and Bahrain for counterfeit currency, criminal association and money laundering, arrested in South Africa; Radovan SIMONOVIC wanted by Montenegro for attempted murder, arrested in Russia.
The 29 participating countries in Infra-Red 2010: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine and USA.