The word ‘Interpol’ may bring any number of diverse things to mind: If you’re old enough to remember Peter Sellers in the original Pink Panther movies, you might think of a bumbling farce in Paris. Or maybe ‘Interpol’ evokes, for you, the sleeker Paris of Matt Damon in the Bourne films, where the CIA works hand-in-hand with the international police in Lyon. Off-screen, though, Interpol is perhaps a bit of both: It’s an intergovernmental organization which facilitates police cooperation across borders. Also known as the International Police Criminal Organization – or ICPO in France where the agency is headquartered – Interpol has been operating since 1923. The organization is made up of a 190-country membership, making it the second-largest intergovernmental organization after the U.N. by member states.
Interpol’s annual operating budget is approximately €70 Million or $95.7 Million USD, an amount largely accrued from annual membership contributions. Current Interpol President, Mireille Balestrazzi, is well-equipped for work with international intelligence, as a former VP for Interpol Europe and before that as the Deputy Central Director of Paris’s Judicial Police. Interpol has 703 employees, which represent 98 member countries. The organization maintains neutrality on issues regarding the military, race, religion and politics – and what remains after discounting those cases? A veritable hotbed of crimes: Public safety, organized crime, terrorism, crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, environmental crime, piracy, intellectual property crime, white-collar crime, computer crime, human trafficking, illicit traffic in works of art, illicit drug production and trafficking, money laundering, weapons smuggling, child pornography and corruption.
Operation Infra-Red (“Infra” signifying International Fugitive Round-Up and Arrest) was initiated by Interpol in 2010. The operation concentrates on cases where fugitives have fled their national jurisdiction and are wanted on serious charges such as child sex abuse, drug trafficking, murder, corruption, money laundering and fraud. Many of these cases often involve organized crime, and fugitives are generally assumed to be armed and dangerous.
With a portfolio like that, you can probably guess that Interpol’s most wanted are forces to be reckoned with: These are serious criminals, who have managed to escape one of the largest crime-fighting organizations in the world. So, now we’ve sparked your curiosity, we’re bringing you the definitive list of Interpol’s most wanted fugitives in 2013, ranked by how long they’ve been at large. Of course, we don’t have many red carpet pics or Twitter selfies for these guys, so mugshots it is, then…
10. Elvio Dionysus Diogenes HATO – Wanted Since January 2013
Also known by the nicknames “Evy” and “Bobby,” Hato was born in the Netherlands on the 24th of May, 1967. He is an alleged organizer of a cocaine smuggling ring which uses the container port in Curacao. Several arrests were made on January 21st, 2013 when police recovered approximately 56 kg of cocaine. It is known that Hato traveled with family members to the Dominican Republic on January 17th, 2013, but after checking in on Friday, January 24th, Hato failed to show up at the airport in Santo Domingo for his return flight to Curacao.
9. Michel EMOND – Wanted Since January 2012
Son of the deceased Hells Angels member Richard “Crow” Emond, 35-year-old Michel Emond is 5’ 9” and 198 lbs with brown hair and brown eyes. A native of Quebec, Canada, Emond is wanted for his involvement in organized crime and drug trafficking, specifically the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamines, also known as speed. Three properties belonging to Emond were legally searched in January, 2012. Thousands of methamphetamine pills were seized, along with hydraulic presses and other products and equipment used in the manufacturing of drugs. There was evidence of both methamphetamine and cocaine on the equipment in question. Two men were arrested, but Emond is still at large.
8. Marvin Brian PEROTI – Wanted Since October 2011
Born June 26, 1973, Peroti is suspected of being a member of a criminal organization purported to have smuggled 40 kg of cocaine into the Netherlands in the spring of 2010. Peroti is an alleged executive in the organization, handling finances, facilitating trafficking and also having direct contact with the organization’s leader. Other members of the group are known to have regularly exchanged money with third parties, buying and selling narcotics or other illegal goods. During an October 10, 2011 search of a property belonging to Peroti, police found ammunition and a firearm.
7. Jaime Osmin VALLE PLEITEZ – Wanted Since May 2011
Also known by the nicknames Jaimico and Mudo, Jaime Osmin Valle Pleitez was born on September 5th, 1989 in El Salvador. On May 23rd, 2011 in the municipality of Nejapa, El Salvador, Valle Pleitez pulled a gun from a belt worn at his waist and opened fire on a group of workers cutting mangoes. During the incident several were wounded and one man was killed. Valle Pleitez fled the scene and has not been seen since. He has several easily recognizable tattoos: the letter “J” on his left leg, “MLP” on his right leg, and three dots on his left hand. “MLP” stands for Movimiento de Liberación Popular, or Movement for Popular Liberation.
6. Cristian Antonio DICENT POLANCO – Wanted Since 2011
This triple-murderer from the Dominican Republic was born on June 9th, 1977. In 2011 in the Santo Domingo Province of the Dominican Republic, Dicent Polanco shot and killed three men and has been wanted ever since. He is considered violent and is likely armed and dangerous. His height is unknown, but he has a medium build, black hair, and eyes which are dark in colour.
5. Miguel MATUS – Wanted Since 2010
Miguel Matus was born in Belize on August 21, 1982. In October 2006, when Matus was 24-years-old, a 17-year-old-girl named Pricilla Tzib was murdered. In 2008 Matus was found guilty of the crime and was sentenced to life in prison. Two years later, in February 2010, Matus was accompanied to a dental clinic. While in transport he escaped custody and is believed to have remained in the Americas region. Likely armed and dangerous, this criminal not only managed to escape prison but has been evading Interpol for about 4 years.
4. Clemente de Jesús CASTELLANOS RIVAS – Wanted Since 2009
34-year-old Salvadoran Clemente de Jesús Castellanos Rivas is slim with brown hair and dark brown eyes, and has a “MS 13” gang tattoo on his forehead. He is wanted for “injury causing death, homicide or murder” after firing several shots, on December 18th, 2009, at a vehicle in which police investigators were traveling. This occurred in San José del Pino, Santa Tecla, El Salvador. One investigator was killed. Castellanos Rivas also goes by the name El Trece Clemente, and may be armed and dangerous.
3. Patrik SNAJDR – Wanted Since September 2007
This 5’7” Slovakian is 32-years-old and has brown eyes, and is wanted for charges of organized crime, extortion and gross coercion. It is believed that Snajdr was a member of the ‘Strvrtaci’ criminal organization, which operated in the Bratislava and Trnava districts of Slovakia until September 2007. Snajdr is thought to have been a member of the group, which was involved in intimidation, extortion and fraud using coercion, between August 2005 and September 2007. He, too, is thought to be in the Americas, and likely armed and dangerous like his compatriots on this list.
2. Emil DAN SIRBU – Wanted Since 2006
Born on August 19th, 1967 in Timisoara, Romania, Emil Dan Sirbu was sentenced to 13 years in prison for belonging to a criminal organization which was involved in trafficking cocaine from South America to Romania. He has brown hair and brown eyes, and is thought to be in the Americas, like many of the criminals on this list. He’s at large, and still hasn’t served out his sentence.
