LYON, France – The public is being asked to help provide information on fugitives targeted as part of an INTERPOL-led global operation which has already seen more than 100 internationally-wanted people arrested or located worldwide.
INTERPOL launched operation Infra-Red (International Fugitive Round-Up and Arrest – Red Notices) on 3 May targeting 450 fugitives worldwide wanted by, or believed to be located in, the 29 participating countries. They have all been convicted for, or are suspected of, committing serious offences which include murder, child sexual abuse, rape and drug trafficking.
The initial phase of the operation – co-ordinated by INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support (FIS) unit at the world police body’s General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon – saw investigators from all 29 participating countries and agencies, including Crime Stoppers International, gather at INTERPOL’s General Secretariat in order to directly share information on suspects across the globe, some of whom have been evading justice for many years.
Details of the wanted persons, their suspected locations and any other potentially identifying information was collated and analyzed and then sent to involved countries through INTERPOL’s global network of 188 National Central Bureaus for action.
To date, new information on more than 300 cases has been shared with INTERPOL on Infra-Red fugitives such as possible locations, travel document information, photographs, fingerprints and telephone numbers.
“The operation has been very successful in locating and arresting a large number of these targets, but what we are now left with are the cases were we have no new information on their whereabouts, which is why we are asking for the public to help,” said Operation Infra-Red co-ordinator Martin Cox, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support (FIS) unit.
Key arrests to date include former Colombian model Angie Sanclemente Valencia wanted by Argentina for drug trafficking, who was taken into custody by Argentinean police on 26 May, and Mouamba Munanga from the Democratic Republic of Congo, wanted by France and Bahrain for counterfeit currency, criminal association and money laundering, who was arrested in South Africa on 16 June.
Twenty-six Infra-Red targets wanted for a range of offences including human trafficking, murder and child sexual abuse, are now being specifically highlighted as part of the appeal for public assistance.
“It is more likely that someone will recognize one these fugitives from a social networking site or a chat room than spotting them walking down the street, but no matter how a member of the public has the information, we would ask that they pass it on,” said Mr Cox.
“Many of these fugitives will believe they have ‘got away with it’ and that they are no longer wanted. What this operation and INTERPOL are clearly showing is that this is never the case and that law enforcement will continue to search for these wanted persons for as long as it takes,” Mr Cox added.
Information on the whereabouts of the targets of Operation Infra-Red or any internationally-wanted persons can be sent to fugitive@interpol.int. Information can also be given anonymously to national Crime Stoppers programmes or via www.csiworld.org.
See other wanted persons by 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.