International fugitives pose a serious threat to public safety worldwide. Often traveling between countries, sometimes using stolen or fraudulent travel documents, fugitives on the run are also opportunistic and tend to finance their ongoing flight or new lifestyle through further criminal activity. Locating these fugitives requires a high level of cooperation between governments, police authorities and international organizations.

One of the most powerful tools in tracking international fugitives is an INTERPOL Red Notice. A Red Notice is circulated to police in 194 countries seeking an individual’s provisional arrest with a view to extradition because they are wanted for prosecution or are required to serve a sentence.

Each year, INTERPOL issues approximately 12,000 Red Notices, but only about half this number are publicly available to view.

Since 2009, INTERPOL has conducted Operation INFRA (International Fugitives Round Up and Arrest) – a global fugitive hunt to locate and arrest the world’s most serious international criminals who are on the run from justice. Operation INFRA focuses on either a particular region or type of crime each year and brings together law enforcement officers from around the world in order to locate and arrest criminals who have fled their national jurisdiction. These fugitives are wanted for serious crimes, such as murder, child sexual abuse, drug trafficking, organized crime, people smuggling, human trafficking and money laundering.

Crime Stoppers has supported INTERPOL’s Operation INFRA since 2010.

Want to learn more? Check out INTERPOL’s Red Notices.