Athens: 26-year-old arrested on an Interpol notice

A 26-year-old woman, a Turkish national, was arrested in Athens because an Interpol Red Notice was outstanding against her. The arrest took place at midday on Monday 17 August 2026 during a random police check in the city centre, while the announcement was made public on the evening of Tuesday 18 August. The arrest was carried out by officers of the Sub-Directorate for Tackling Organised Sports Violence, which comes under the Directorate for Tackling Organised Crime.

When her details were checked it was established that the notice, issued at the initiative of Interpol Turkey, was outstanding against her. According to its content, the international search concerned offences relating to the production and trafficking of narcotics, as well as cases of threat and insult. After her arrest the 26-year-old was taken before the competent prosecuting authority for the prescribed judicial procedure. The presumption of innocence applies, since a Red Notice is not a conviction but a request for location and provisional arrest.

The Red Notice is Interpol’s strongest international search instrument and is addressed to the police authorities of its 196 member states. It is not an arrest warrant with automatic force: each state applies its own law and the national judicial authorities decide whether to proceed with detention and possible extradition proceedings. In Greece, the decision on the fate of a person subject to such a notice rests with the competent judicial councils.

The fact that she was located through a random check rather than a targeted operation shows the importance of cross-checking data in real time during routine checks. It has not been made known how long the 26-year-old had been in the country, nor whether she is connected to other cases under investigation in Greece, while the police gave no further details about the circumstances of the check. More crime reporting from the capital is published on the Athens page.