INTERPOL helps Greek police arrest fugitive Colombian child killer

15 mai 2009

Greek police have arrested a Colombian man wanted for the rape and murder of a nine-year girl in Colombia five years ago, following a four-month manhunt and operation involving Greek and Colombian police and INTERPOL.

Rudy Alonso Suarez Corrales was the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice – effectively an international wanted persons notice – issued by the Colombian National Central Bureau (NCB) in 2006, and of a national appeal to the public in Colombia. 

Colombian and Greek police had been working with INTERPOL's Fugitive Unit for four months to find Suarez, who had illegally purchased a Venezuelan passport to hide his identity. By monitoring transactions and internet contacts, NCBs in Colombia and Greece managed to track Suarez down in Athens, where he had been sheltering in the home of his ex-wife. Greek police arrested him late on 29 April 2009, where his fingerprints matched those on the Red Notice.

The 32-year old former army sub-lieutenant faces a penalty of 40 years in prison in Colombia. His arrest shows the value of INTERPOL tools – such as its databases and secure communications systems – which operate well beyond national boundaries, making it hard for a criminal to take refuge in another country.

A Red Notice can be requested by any INTERPOL member country and is issued by INTERPOL'S General Secretariat in Lyon, France.  It is circulated to 187 NCBs worldwide and can also be added to national law enforcement databases and border lookout systems.