The law

Interpol Red Notices versus extradition requests

A Red Notice is an alert circulated through INTERPOL. It is not an international arrest warrant and not an extradition request, which is made directly between states.

• INTERPOL describes a Red Notice as a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person, based on a warrant or court order from the requesting country.¹
• INTERPOL says a Red Notice "is not an international arrest warrant" and that each member country decides what legal value to give it.¹
• An extradition request is a separate government to government step. For the United States it is made by diplomatic note through the State Department.²
• Red Notice decisions can feature in extradition cases. Mehul Choksi relied on a decision of INTERPOL's Commission for the Control of Files in his Belgian extradition appeal, which the Court of Cassation dismissed.³

Sources

1. INTERPOL, Red Notices (27 October 2026)
2. US Department of Justice, Justice Manual 9-15.000, International Extradition and Related Matters (27 October 2026)
3. The Statesman, Belgium's top court clears extradition of Mehul Choksi to India, dismisses his appeal (18 December 2025)