LYON, France – INTERPOL and its member countries are following up on information provided by members of the public following an appeal for their assistance in locating international fugitives wanted for serious crimes including murder, rape, child sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Since the call for public assistance on Monday 5 July, a further seven individuals have been arrested or located under Operation Infra-Red (International Fugitive Round-Up and Arrest – Red Notices) bringing the current total to 114.
Launched on 3 May, operation Infra-Red is targeting 450 convicted or wanted persons worldwide identified by the 29 participating member countries. In addition to the 114 individuals located or arrested, new information on 323 of the cases has also been provided to INTERPOL, including possible locations, travel details, photographs and telephone numbers.
Information on the fugitives has been received from people around the world, and nearly 20 million hits registered on INTERPOL’s website since Monday 5 July.
“The response from the public has been extremely positive, which combined with the work being done by police on the ground has led to the arrest or location of seven Infra-red targets this week,” said Operation Infra-Red co-ordinator Martin Cox, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support (FIS) unit.
“Officers from the 29 countries taking part in Infra-Red, both here at the General Secretariat headquarters and in our National Central Bureaus around the world are continuing to carefully assess and analyze the information provided to ensure that any and all investigative leads are properly followed,” said Mr Cox.
In addition to the 26 fugitives highlighted at the start of the public appeal, four new cases have now been added to the target list.
“We would continue to encourage and ask anyone with details about any and all of these fugitives to come forward and reassure them that their information will be treated in confidence,” added Mr Cox.
Anyone with information on the targets of Operation Infra-Red, or any internationally-wanted persons, please send an email to our Fugitive Unit.
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.