Does interpol arrest people for The Hague?
Executive summary
Interpol does not itself physically carry out arrests; it issues international police alerts (Red Notices) and coordinates operations that lead national forces to detain suspects (Interpol materials describe notices as requests to “seek the location and arrest” and cite arrests made during Interpol-coordinated operations) [1] [2]. Multiple recent Interpol-coordinated operations resulted in hundreds or thousands of arrests executed by national authorities, not by Interpol agents themselves [2] [3] [4].
1. What Interpol actually does — international coordination, not foreign police work
Interpol’s core function is to facilitate cooperation between national police forces: it publishes notices (Red, Blue, etc.) to “seek the location and arrest of wanted persons,” maintains shared databases and coordinates multi-country operations; these tools enable member states to act, but Interpol itself does not have a global arrest squad empowered to arrest people outside the laws of a host country [1] [5]. Open-source summaries and Interpol’s own descriptions treat Red Notices as requests that “can form the basis for a provisional arrest,” emphasizing that arrest powers rest with national authorities [6] [2].
2. How arrests linked to The Hague or the ICC typically happen — member states execute warrants
When international courts such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issue arrest warrants, Interpol can help circulate those warrants to member countries via notices or diffusions; if a person is located in a member state, that state’s police execute the arrest under national law and may transfer the person to the ICC in The Hague (Human Rights Watch reporting on Rodrigo Duterte’s March 2025 arrest says Philippine authorities acted on an ICC-issued warrant that Interpol had circulated, and detained and transferred him) [7]. That sequence—ICC issues warrant, Interpol helps disseminate information, national police arrest and extradite—is reflected in available reporting [7].
3. Evidence from recent Interpol-led operations — arrests happen, but by national forces
Interpol publicizes numerous large-scale, multi-jurisdiction operations that produced significant arrest totals: Operation Neptune VII and other coordinated actions cited Interpol checks against its databases and listed arrests made across participating countries (153 arrests in the cited operation) [2]. Operation Red Card and Operation Serengeti involved hundreds and even more than a thousand arrests across African countries; Interpol coordinated the efforts but the detentions were carried out by national law enforcement agencies in the participating states [3] [4].
4. What a “Red Notice” means in practice — a global alert, not an automatic arrest
A Red Notice is described as “the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant” and is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action; it is issued at the request of a member state or an authorised international entity such as the ICC, and must comply with Interpol’s rules [5] [6]. Practical effect varies by country: some states treat Red Notices as grounds for provisional arrest, others require judicial or ministerial review, and some refuse to act if the request is deemed political — Interpol’s own rules and public debate reflect those limits [5].
5. Limits and controversies — politics, refugees, and donor influence
Interpol’s tools are constrained by legal and political checks. The organisation has a refugee policy and has in the past withdrawn notices when they conflicted with refugee protections; critics also point to donor influence and political requests as causes for concern, citing examples and debates in public reporting [5]. These controversies matter when a Red Notice relates to high-profile targets or international courts: the decision to act depends on member-state politics and domestic law, not on a unilateral Interpol authority [5].
6. Bottom line for “Does Interpol arrest people for The Hague?”
Interpol does not itself arrest people to deliver them to The Hague; it circulates ICC arrest warrants and coordinates information-sharing and operations that allow national police to make arrests and transfers. Reporting on the Duterte case and multiple Interpol-coordinated operations shows Interpol’s central role is coordination and alerting, while the physical arrest and transfer are performed by national authorities [7] [2] [1].
Limitations: available sources do not mention any Interpol officers physically entering another sovereign state to carry out arrests for the ICC, nor do they provide a complete catalogue of every national legal process used to effect transfers to The Hague; those details depend on domestic extradition and surrender law (not found in current reporting).