Back to Basics Part 4: Interpol Notices and the Louvre Heist

In this 4th part of the Red Notice Monitor’s Back to Basics series, we examine how Interpol’s notice system can be deployed when criminals and stolen goods cross borders, using the Louvre heist as our case study.

This blog addresses how to delete a Red Notice: process and challenges.

The study, published in June 2025, makes clear that transnational repression represents a direct assault on fundamental rights occurring on European soil.

Continuing our Back to Basics series, we turn to perhaps the most frequently misunderstood element of international policing: the Red Notice itself.

Red Notice Monitor launches Back to Basics series to ensure our readers understand the essential elements of Interpol and Red Notices before dealing with the complexities.

This blog addresses how authoritarian regimes are systematically targeting journalists and human rights defenders in the UK through legal harassment, physical threats, and coordinated repression.

This article was first published in WealthBriefing on 25 September 2025.

The UK is systematically failing to respond to state-sponsored harassment and intimidation against those within its borders, effectively allowing authoritarian states to operate with impunity on British soil.

Authoritarian regimes abuse Interpol Red Notices to target political opponents – The UK’s immigration system mistakenly treats these notices as evidence of criminality, leading to wrongful visa refusals and asylum denials for those fleeing persecution.

El Salvador maintains more than 800 active Red Notices – an unprecedented use of Interpol’s system as an extension of its domestic state of emergency.

Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev arrested in Georgia on Interpol Red Notice after years evading justice. The case raises fresh questions about the effectiveness of the Red Notice system

India issues its first Interpol Purple Notice on trade-based money laundering. What it means for businesses, compliance, and global policing.

Despite a larger budget and new digital tools, systemic bottlenecks – particularly within the Interpol Secretariat – continue to undermine oversight and threaten individual rights.

Mientras las difusiones rojas alcanzan un máximo histórico en 2024, un aumento de los rechazos y de las expulsiones posteriores a la publicación revela una preocupación cada vez mayor por los abusos políticos y los fallos sistémicos de los mecanismos de cumplimiento de Interpol.

La Comisión Mixta de Derechos Humanos del Parlamento británico publica un informe sobre la represión transnacional el 30 de julio de 2025.