LYON, France — A transnational border security operation coordinated by INTERPOL spanning five countries in the Middle East and North Africa has led to a total of 48 arrests, including eight involving individuals wanted internationally under INTERPOL Red Notices and one under an INTERPOL Wanted Persons Diffusion.
It was the first cross-Middle East and North Africa operation where female police officers had full operational responsibility.

Significant Red Notice successes included the arrest at Houari Bou Madian International Airport in the Algerian capital, Algiers, of the suspected mastermind behind a 2022 shooting in Toulouse, France. The suspect had previously escaped from prison after being sentenced to eight years for drug trafficking, participation in a criminal conspiracy, and possession of weapons.

Another high-profile case involved the arrest of a second prison escapee wanted by French authorities. The fugitive, who had been convicted and sentenced to a 15-year jail term for murder, was detained at a land crossing on the border between Algeria and Tunisia.

Over 700,000 cross-checks against INTERPOL databases were made during the three-week Operation Phoenix timeline, generating 246 hits on individuals and travel documents. Seizures made included five travel documents reported in the Organization’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database.

Among other high value or illicit items seized were:

•  11 luxury vehicles
  •    USD 16,300 in cash
  •    EUR 9,900 in cash
  •    1.8 kilograms of gold
  •    13,000 Captagon pills
  •    123 crystal meth capsules
  •    530 mobile phones
  •    1,525 cartons of smuggled cigarettes

Empowering women in the fight against terrorism and organized crime

Operation Phoenix was an integral part of Project Momentum-MENA, a three-year INTERPOL initiative to boost national and regional law enforcement capacities in the Middle East and North Africa, with a specific focus on the operational training and deployment of women police officers.

It channeled the project’s training efforts into a border operation, leveraging INTERPOL tools and services to target wanted persons linked to terrorism and criminal networks. Operation Phoenix was led entirely by women police officers, from first-line document checks and second-line interviews at border points, through to border leadership. Women officers also managed international cooperation at INTERPOL’s offices in the five participating countries and coordinated activities at the two Operational Coordination Units in Algeria and Jordan.

María Carmen Muñoz González, INTERPOL’s Director of Counter-Terrorism said:

“With nine internationally wanted individuals arrested, including previously convicted criminals, Operation Phoenix shows the effectiveness of international police cooperation at potentially sensitive border crossings. The overall results are a credit to the female police officers who had full operational responsibility for the operation.”

Counter-terrorism operation nets eight Red Notice suspects