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Date Published: 04/07/2022

Brit on-the-run from UK authorities is captured in Benidorm

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A Dutch fugitive with four false identities has also been arrested in Alicante province

Brit on-the-run from UK authorities is captured in Benidorm

A 43-year-old Brit wanted by the UK authorities over drug trafficking charges has been captured in Benidorm - one of two fugitives recently hauled in by police in Alicante province.

Just 7km away in the neighbouring town of Alfaz del Pi, police caught up with a 35-year-old Dutch man who was travelling under four false identities in order to flee his country where he is wanted in connection with an attempted murder.

The British detainee, believed to be the leader of a drug trafficking organisation based in the south of England, was arrested in the hugely popular coastal resort of Benidorm on June 21 following an appeal on the CrimeStoppers platform in which the Ministry of the Interior and the British authorities asked for public collaboration in locating the fugitive.

It was initially believed the Briton was hiding out in Malaga on the Costa del Sol, but the trail soon led investigators to the province of Alicante, where they had "reliable information" the 43-year-old was living with relatives who had recently moved to the area.

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After close surveillance of the family members, police closed in on a hotel in Benidorm where the Brit was arrested.

As part of an unrelated investigation, the same team of detectives managed to locate a Dutch man wanted by the authorities in the Netherlands for attempted murder. According to sources, the wanted man opened fire on several people during a "settling of scores between rival gangs", seriously wounding two of them.

Following his arrest on June 22, police discovered he had already been arrested on three occasions under different identities, all of them falsified; twice in Alicante province and once in Barcelona.

He was allegedly using a fourth identity when he was arrested in Alfaz del Pi having just arrived in the town from Barcelona.

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Image: Guardia Civil

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