The Diplomat
Spanish and British authorities yesterday renewed their campaign to locate and bring to justice seven of the UK’s most wanted fugitives who are allegedly hiding in Spain.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) renewed its call to help track down some of the UK’s most wanted fugitives, “working with partners such as Spanish law enforcement.”
A year ago, the NCA launched a campaign in Madrid, together with the Spanish Interior Ministry and Spanish police representatives, to find thirteen men who had gone on the run, all of them reportedly hiding in Spain. Since then, six of them have been located and arrested and are in various stages of the judicial and extradition process. The campaign was renewed yesterday, in conjunction with the independent, not-for-profit charity Crimestoppers, Spanish law enforcement and various UK police forces.
“Spain is immensely popular with Britons who live and vacation here, but it is not a safe haven for criminals,” said Steve Reynolds, NCA regional director for Spain. “The NCA’s International Crime Bureau and International Liaison officers work with law enforcement in other countries, such as Spain in this case, to track and arrest criminals anywhere in the world,” he added.
According to Reynolds, “it is common for fugitives to continue to commit crimes while on the run and these men will be known in criminal circles wherever they are.” Apart from that, he warned, “some will try to blend in with the larger British communities for whom Spain is home.” “You may know some of them from your town or village. Loyalties change over time and we urge anyone with information about these men to help us find them,” he added.
Reynolds also assured that “the UK and Spain have a very strong police partnership and day in and day out we work together to protect the public.” “This partnership has been crucial to many of the successes we have had so far in finding fugitives from justice in the UK,” he concluded.
The seven wanted men are Jack Mayle, 31, suspected of supplying MDMA and other drugs and running a drug trafficking ring in south London; two Cardiff men wanted by South Wales Police for drug offenses (Asim Naveed, 31, 6’4″ tall, and Calvin Parris, 33, accused of being a client of Naveed’s criminal network and selling cocaine in Cardiff); John James Jones, 32, accused of stabbing two victims with a knife, causing them serious injuries (an information shows that he stayed in a Madrid hotel the night after the stabbings, but left quickly the next morning); Callum Michael Allan, 24, charged with 12 offences of possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine, possession of cannabis, assault on an emergency worker, affray and dangerous driving; Mark Francis Roberts, 29, wanted for alleged grievous bodily harm and the attempted theft of a Richard Mille watch valued at £60. 000; and Alex Male, 30, a regional drug dealer in southwest England.
