Interpol Purple Notice
When criminal networks innovate, law enforcement must stay one step ahead. The Interpol Purple Notice is a powerful tool designed to share critical crime-related information with law enforcement agencies worldwide. That includes intelligence on emerging methods of crime, smuggling, and concealment methods and technologies used by criminals.
By disseminating this information globally, it enables police forces and security agencies to anticipate threats and disrupt illicit operations before they escalate. In this guide, we enumerate how Purple Notices work, the types of tactics they reveal, and why understanding them is critical for investigators, legal professionals, and businesses at risk of exploitation.
What is a Purple Notice of Interpol?
The Purple Notice is one of the specialized types of notices that the International criminal police organization (Interpol) issues for the exchange of important criminal operational information between member countries. Unlike the Interpol Red Notice, aimed at search and arrest, the Purple Notice has a different purpose. It alerts law enforcement agencies of other states about new and unconventional methods of committing crimes.
The information contained in the purple notice may be restricted from public access, especially if it concerns methods used by terrorist groups or transnational organized crime. Such notices are available to law enforcement agencies of all INTERPOL member states through the secure I-24/7 database.
It is not uncommon for legal business models, new IT solutions, or devices used without malicious intent to fall under the description provided in the purple notification. Therefore, it is important for companies operating in innovative fields to understand the risks:
- To be unintentionally involved in an international investigation;
- To become the object of increased attention from financial or export control;
- Encounter limitations when transporting goods or technologies.
A purple notice is not a legal warrant or a basis for criminal prosecution. It is informational and analytical, but may influence the course of criminal cases and investigations if the methods described in it are connected to a specific case.
The purpose of the purple notification
Interpol publishes Purple Notices to facilitate the exchange of information about methods, means, and techniques of committing crimes. That makes the purple notice a valuable law enforcement tool for discovering new and unusual threats that pose a transnational threat. It focuses on the technical aspects of criminal activity.
Its main task is to inform law enforcement agencies of member countries about the new tactics used by criminals. That includes smuggling methods, modified weapons, fake documents, hidden compartments in vehicles, unconventional money laundering schemes, and technologies used in cybercrimes.
A purple notice facilitates the prevention or quick recognition of threats, even if they have not previously been encountered in a specific jurisdiction. Such Interpol notices are actively used in combating organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, and financial fraud.
These Interpol notices are also important in the practical training of specialists, as they contain descriptions of real cases and methods tested in practice. Thus, Purple Notice serves as a tool for rapid response and global cooperation between states.
It is important to note that the purple notice does not have the legal force of an arrest warrant. However, it may influence a criminal investigation or preventive measures within the framework of national legislation.
Sources of information and initiators
An Interpol Purple Notice is issued based on reliable data about new methods of committing crimes, collected from various authoritative sources. The main initiators of such notices are the National Central Bureaus of member countries. These units serve as the official contact points of Interpol in each country and have direct access to local law enforcement agencies and criminal information.
In addition to the NCB, the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon coordinates the processing and verification of received information, ensures the publication of notices. It also ensures the distribution of these notices among all member countries. It is the Secretariat that is responsible for ensuring that the notice complies with Interpol standards and international law.
The sources of data for purple notices can include investigation reports, seized items, suspect interrogations, and analytical materials prepared by specialized Interpol units. Additionally, significant importance is placed on cooperation with other international organizations such as Europol, FRONTEX, WHO, FATF, and regional security structures. These organizations can provide information on new criminal trends, especially if they affect multiple countries simultaneously.
Interpol’s Color-Coded Notification System
Interpol has a color-coded system for the rapid exchange of information about crimes, suspects, security threats, and other critically important data. These notices allow law enforcement agencies worldwide to quickly coordinate actions without violating national laws.
Each notice is designated by a specific color and a strictly regulated purpose:
- Interpol Red Notice: Used for an international search to arrest and subsequently extradite a suspect for criminal offenses. It is not an international arrest warrant but plays a similar role in interstate cooperation against serious crimes.
- Blue Notice: Helps to seek information about a person’s location, their identity, and additional information about their activities. Often used if the person is not wanted for arrest but requires monitoring.
- Green Notice: Warns international authorities about individuals posing a threat to public safety: serial offenders, radicals, and sexual predators. It’s used as a crime prevention tool.
- Yellow Notice: Used to locate missing persons, especially minors, or for identifying individuals unable to identify themselves (due to mental disorders or injuries);
- Orange Notice: Warns about objects and events posing potential danger: suspicious packages, methods of committing terrorist acts, or the spread of particularly hazardous substances.
- Purple Notice Interpol: Records new methods, ways, and technologies of committing crimes, including weapon modifications, drug transportation, cyberattack schemes, and other forms of criminal activity.
- Black Notice: Used for the identification of unidentified bodies or objects related to criminal investigations when identity could not be established.
- UN Special Notice: Issued by the United Nations Security Council regarding individuals and organizations subject to international sanctions (terrorism or weapons proliferation).
What information is usually included in a purple notice?
Usually, the purple notification contains the following:
- A detailed description of the method of committing the crime, including the stages of preparation, execution, and concealment of traces;
- Information about technical means, devices, vehicles, or substances used by criminals. This could be the design of a hidden compartment in a car for transporting drugs or a diagram of modified firearms;
- Details of concealment methods — how criminals disguise their actions, traces, or materials used (using legal supplies for smuggling, introducing malicious programs through harmless electronic files);
- Photographs, diagrams, charts, video materials, or other visual evidence that help law enforcement quickly recognize similar cases;
- Information about the geographical distribution of the method: in which countries or regions it has been observed, how localized or transnational it is;
- Information about potential victims — who most often suffers from this method (elderly people in cases of internet fraud or migrants in human trafficking);
- Recommendations for police actions, if such are developed, or links to related notifications.
Examples of criminal activities covered in Purple Notices
Interpol Purple Notices often cover criminal methodologies, objects, or concealment techniques rather than the suspects themselves. Examples of activities and tactics addressed by Interpol Purple notifications include:
1. New fraud schemes
Modern fraudsters are increasingly resorting to social engineering techniques, phishing, and complex financial schemes. For example: sending fake emails allegedly from banks or tax authorities, substituting company details to steal funds, “CEO fraud” schemes, where attackers imitate correspondence with company management, demanding urgent money transfers.
2. Drug trafficking and methods of concealment
Interpol Purple notices often concern new methods of drug transportation, including the use of drones and underwater drones, concealment in shipments of legal products, new synthetic drugs, and precursors not included in the lists of controlled substances.
3. Cybercrime
With the growth of digitalization, purple notifications cover new malicious programs disguised as legitimate applications, methods of attacks on corporate networks (e.g., supply chain attacks), and the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering.
4. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)
Interpol shares data on new methods of manufacturing and disguising explosive devices: the use of household chemicals and electronic components, concealment in everyday items (toys, laptops, shoes).
5. Methods of smuggling and illegal trade
Interpol Purple notifications help identify methods of covert transportation of weapons, antiques, counterfeit medicines, routes, and techniques used in human trafficking.
If your company or client has been targeted—or even linked—in a case involving criminal tactics flagged by an Interpol Purple Notice, every hour counts. These cases can trigger cross-border investigations, disrupt operations, and damage reputations. Our team delivers rapid legal assessment, strategic defence, and full-spectrum international support to safeguard your interests. With proven expertise in complex, multi-jurisdictional matters, we act decisively to protect both your business and your reputation.
The difference between the Purple Notice and other Interpol notices.
Unlike the Interpol red notice, which is used to search for a person for arrest and extradition, the purple one is not related to the search for a specific individual and does not carry the legal force of a warrant.
The purple notice primarily serves an analytical and preventive function. It allows INTERPOL member countries to quickly adapt to new types of threats and prevent their spread. This makes it an indispensable tool in the fight against transnational crime.
The legal specifics of this notice require professional understanding, especially if the information concerns business clients or international operations. However, our team of international lawyers has the legal expertise required to challenge and remove an Interpol purple notice against you or your business.
How to remove the purple Interpol notification?
An Interpol Purple Notice removal is different from removing an Interpol Red Notice because it doesn’t aim to arrest or detain an individual. It’s an intelligence sharing tool about criminal methods, objects, or concealment techniques. However, you can seek to have a purple notice corrected, removed or limited in scope if it implicates you or your company wrongly.
Here’s the general process:
Stage 1. Analysis of the notification content
Contact the Interpol National Central Bureau in your country and request access to the notification data. If justified, you have the right to demand official confirmation of the publication and its content. It is important to understand whether you or your company is mentioned directly or indirectly. This stage allows for a legal assessment of the scope and consequences of the notification.
Stage 2. Assessment of the legal position
A legal assessment is necessary to know whether the notification violates your human rights. Assessing the notice also determines whether the publication truly contains false or unfounded information. Lawyers analyze the compliance of the notification with Interpol rules and international law. This prepares the legal grounds for appeal.
Stage 3. Filing a complaint with the CCF Commission
When a purple notice violates your human rights, an official application is submitted to the CCF — an independent body responsible for ensuring compliance with Interpol’s rules. The application includes details of the complaint, evidence of rights violations, and a request for the removal or editing of the notice. All materials must be in English or French, with certified translations. The commission reviews appeals independently of the opinions of states.
Stage 4. Legal representative support
An appeal to the CCF requires precision and a strategic approach. A lawyer prepares a reasoned position based on the norms of the Rules on the Processing of Data. It indicates the inconsistency of the notice with INTERPOL’s mandate, the lack of evidence, and the disproportionality of the impact. References to international norms are also provided. A poorly drafted complaint may be rejected without consideration.
Stage 5. Resolution of CCF and further actions
CCF considers an appeal for 6 to 12 months. If the complaint is deemed justified, Interpol deletes or edits the notice. In case of refusal, you can submit a repeated appeal if new data is available. In certain cases, it is possible to challenge the notice at the national level or seek official clarifications through diplomacy.
Our legal team has experience interacting with Interpol authorities, including complex cases related to purple notices. We will assess the legal position and prospects for removal, gain access to information about the notice, prepare and submit a reasoned complaint to the CCF, and ensure support throughout all stages of the process, from the initial request to data removal.
What assistance can lawyers provide you?
Our International lawyers start by assessing the presence and content of the purple notification:
- We submit official requests to the NCB and the General Secretariat of Interpol.
- We determine whether the notification is directly related to the client or affects them indirectly.
- We are checking compliance with the Interpol Data Processing Regulations and international legal norms.
This allows for accurately determining the legal basis for further actions. We explain how the notice may affect your situation, including potential difficulties crossing borders, threats to the company’s reputation, especially in technology, pharmaceuticals, or logistics, and risks of financial and partner checks within the framework of KYC/AML procedures. Consultations include a strategy for mitigating reputational and legal consequences.
When the notification contains false information, violates rights, or was published without grounds, we prepare a complaint to the CCF. We compile a client dossier, including rebuttals, explanatory notes, and certificates, translate and format documents according to CCF standards, and accompany the client at all stages of case review (from submission to decision-making). This increases the chances of removing or editing the information.
In addition to applying to the CCF, our team helps draft legal clarifications for partners, banks, or government bodies, communicate with international organizations or ministries of foreign affairs, and reduce the risks of being included in restricted access lists or compliance restrictions. We provide not only legal protection but also support for your business resilience.
Even after the notification is removed, we continue our work: monitoring for re-publication or updates of information, supporting the client in legal matters related to international cooperation, and ensuring access to verified information from Interpol databases. Legal protection is not limited to filing a single complaint—it is systematic work for the future.
Contact us right now to discuss your situation and receive professional legal assistance. We will help restore justice and protect your reputation on an international level.
