Moroccan security authorities joined counterparts from Algeria, Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia in an Interpol operation targeting terrorism and transnational crime in the Middle East and North Africa, resulting in 48 arrests, including nine people wanted internationally, Interpol said Wednesday.
Dubbed Operation Phoenix, the three-week operation resulted in the arrest of eight people wanted internationally under Interpol red notices and another person sought through an Interpol alert.
Interpol said the operation was the first in the Middle East and North Africa in which female police officers assumed full operational responsibility, from initial document checks and interviews at border crossings to the management of border operations.
Among the notable arrests was a suspect wanted by French authorities in connection with a 2022 shooting in Toulouse. The suspect was arrested at Houari Boumediene International Airport in Algiers after previously escaping from prison, where he had been serving an eight-year sentence for drug trafficking, criminal conspiracy and weapons possession.
A second prison escapee wanted by French authorities was arrested at a land border crossing between Algeria and Tunisia. He had previously been sentenced to 15 years in prison for murder, according to Interpol.
During the operation, participating authorities conducted more than 700,000 checks against Interpol databases, generating 246 positive matches involving individuals and travel documents.
Authorities also seized five travel documents listed in Interpol’s database of stolen and lost travel documents, as well as 11 luxury vehicles, 1.8 kilograms of gold, 13,000 Captagon pills, 123 methamphetamine capsules, 1,525 cartons of smuggled cigarettes and 530 mobile phones.
More than $16,000 and 9,900 euros in cash were also seized, Interpol said.
Operation Phoenix was conducted as part of Momentum-MENA, a three-year Interpol initiative aimed at strengthening national and regional law enforcement capabilities across the Middle East and North Africa, with a particular focus on operational training and the deployment of female officers.
Female officers also managed international cooperation through Interpol offices in the five participating countries and coordinated activities at operational coordination units in Algeria and Jordan.
Maria Carmen Muñoz González, Interpol’s director of counterterrorism, said the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of international police cooperation at potentially sensitive border crossings.
“With nine internationally wanted individuals arrested, including previously convicted offenders, Operation Phoenix demonstrates the effectiveness of international police cooperation at potentially sensitive border crossings,” Muñoz González said.
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