A new initiative has been launched to find British expatriates in Spain…. who are wanted for serious crimes!
Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) have made an appeal to all British expats in Spain as they try to bring a number of wanted fugitives to justice.
Spain has long been a destination for British criminals to flee to, and now the two organisations are asking for help from British expats in Spain to track down the wanted lawbreakers.
To raise awareness amongst expat communities in Spain, Crimestoppers and SOCA, joint coordinators of Operation Captura- an operation created specifically to catch criminals who have fled to Spain- have released a list of the top ten most wanted criminals who are believed to be hiding in Spain.
The most wanted list includes ne’er do wells such as armed robber Andrew Moran and weapons conspirators Kirk Bradley and Tony Downes.
Positively, the intuitive has already seen success- mere hours after the appeal was made police were given information that led to the capture of child sex offender Dominic Powell.
The founder and chairman of Crimestoppers, Lord Ashcroft, said: “A small number of suspected criminals see Spain as a safe place to evade law enforcement but, thanks to the confidence the UK, Spanish and expat communities have in Crimestoppers, these individuals will not be able to escape justice for much longer.”
The input from British expats has always been strong and over the years 47 out of 65 criminals listed have been apprehended. In fact, the operation is deemed so successful Andy Baker from SOCA admitted they were considering “extending the programme to other countries popular with our expats, where criminals mistakenly think they can hide from justice.”