SILVER NOTICE OF INTERPOL

  • In January 2025, Interpol issued its first-ever Silver Notice to help trace illicit assets that have been moved across borders.
  • This new type of notice is part of a pilot project that involves 52 countries, including India, and aims to locate and recover the hidden wealth of criminals involved in serious offenses like corruption, fraud, and drug trafficking.

ABOUT INTERPOL

  • It is an international organization facilitating international police cooperation against terrorism, trafficking, & other crime.
  • Governance: All decisions regarding the activities of INTERPOL are made by the General Assembly which is it’s supreme governing body which meets annually.
  • Status: It is ‘NOT’ a unit or part of united nation system. It is an independent international organization.
  • HQ: Lyon in
  • Founded in:
  • It has a National Central Bureau (NCB) in each member country, which is the central point of contact for both the general secretariat and the other NCBs around the world. For India, NCB is the CBI
ABOUT NOTICES It issues 8 type of notices (7 of which are colour-coded) which are in the form of alert/requests allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
  • Red Notice
    • To seek the location and arrest of a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction or an international tribunal with a view to his/her extradition.
    • It is the "closest instrument to an international arrest warrant”.
  • Blue Notice
    • To locate, identify or obtain information on a person of interest in a criminal investigation.
  • Green Notice
To warn about a person's criminal activities if that person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety.
  • Yellow Notice
To locate a missing person or to identify a person unable to identify himself/herself.
  • Black Notice
To seek information on unidentified bodies.
  • Orange Notice
To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing an imminent threat and danger to persons or property.
  • Purple Notice
    • To provide information on modus operandi, procedures, objects, devices or hiding places used by criminals.
  • Interpol-UNSC Special Notice
    • To inform Interpol's members that an individual or an entity is subject to UN sanctions.
WHAT IS SILVER NOTICE? The Silver Notice is a new tool introduced by Interpol to locate assets linked to criminal activities. This includes properties, vehicles, businesses, and financial accounts that have been illegally moved to other countries to hide them, especially in tax havens.
  • The Silver Notice allows countries to request information from other nations to help track down these assets.
  • It will help locate and identify wealth linked to crimes such as fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, and environmental crimes.
  • Countries can use this information to make formal requests for seizure, confiscation, or recovery of the assets, based on each country’s own laws.
  • The Silver Notice will specifically focus on criminal assets and is part of the broader system of notices that helps Interpol facilitate international cooperation in criminal investigations.

FIRST USE OF SILVER NOTICE

  • The very first Silver Notice was issued on the request of Italy.
  • Italy asked Interpol to help trace the assets of a senior mafia member who had hidden wealth abroad.
  • This marks the beginning of the Silver Notice’s use in international crime-fighting.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT FOR INDIA? India is one of the 52 countries participating in the pilot project. For India, the Silver Notice is particularly important because it can help track down economic offenders who have illegally transferred their wealth to other countries. Many criminals assume that by moving their wealth to offshore tax havens, they can hide it and avoid being caught.
  • India has several fugitive economic offenders who are believed to have moved illicit wealth outside the country.
  • The Silver Notice can help trace and recover these assets, which could be used to bring these criminals to justice.
  • Officials believe that the Silver Notice will assist in uncovering hidden wealth linked to crimes, including corruption, money laundering, and fraud.

THE PILOT PROJECT

  • The pilot project will run at least until November 2025, allowing countries to request a total of 500 Silver Notices.
  • These requests will be divided equally among the participating nations.
  • Interpol will carefully review each Silver Notice to make sure that it is not misused for political purposes.
  • For now, the details of the notices won’t be made public, ensuring that sensitive information remains confidential.

HOW DOES THE SILVER NOTICE WORK?

  • Countries involved in the project can request information about assets linked to criminals who have committed serious offenses, such as fraud, drug trafficking, and environmental crimes.
  • The Silver Notice can also be used to locate hidden assets in foreign countries and may lead to efforts to seize or recover these assets.
  • Countries can then use the information for bilateral engagement, which means they can work together to request the seizure or confiscation of the assets, depending on each country's laws.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: WHY SILVER NOTICE MATTERS?

  • Interpol's Silver Notice is a powerful new tool in the global fight against organized crime.
  • By targeting the financial assets of criminals, it aims to weaken criminal networks, many of which rely on the illegal profits they make from money laundering and other serious crimes.
  • 99% of criminal assets are currently unrecovered, and this new notice system is designed to make it easier to track down these funds.
  • For countries like India, where black money and economic offenders are major issues, the Silver Notice represents a strong step forward in efforts to recover hidden wealth and hold criminals accountable.