Catching criminals in Spain

Sixth arrest for Operation Captura 2

Crimestoppers can confirm that a sixth Most Wanted criminal has been arrested under Operation Captura 2.

Andrew Mark Snelgrove, born in Lewisham and wanted by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), is accused of attempted murder, wounding with intent and possession of a firearm with the intent to endanger life on 24 June 1999. He was arrested in Malaga, Spain on Monday 01 June.

Read the full Snelgrove arrest press release.

Operation Captura 2 was launched in November 2008 focussing on the Alicante region of Spain. To date, six out of the ten wanted individuals have been brought to justice.

Operation Captura 2 arrests to date

• Dennis Hunter was arrested in Hungary, his place of birth, on Tuesday 03 February 2009. He was wanted for a £250 million VAT fraud between 2001 and 2003. Hunter was charged by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for cheating the public revenue through fraud, and for laundering the proceeds of the fraud, presenting a major attack on the UK VAT system. Read the full story on Dennis Hunter.
• Andrew Arthur Alderman, handed himself into the Consulate General in Madrid on 18 November 2008. Alderman, born in Canterbury and wanted by Kent Constabulary, was convicted to 10 years' imprisonment for indecent assault and rape of a girl under the age of 16, between 1 January 1995 and 30 April 2004. Read the full Andrew Arthur Alderman press release.
• Anthony Kearney, accused of fraudulent offences, including obtaining benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and setting up false accounts and Donna McCafferty, accused of committing fraudulent offences between 1999 and 2004, were arrested by the Spanish Police in the Alicante area within 24 hours of Operation Captura 2 being launched in November 2008. McCafferty was arrested under one of her aliases Elizabeth McAndrew. Read the full 'Two Most Wanted arrested in Spain' press release
• Alan Gordon was been found in prison in Majorca in November 2008 for separate offences committed in Spain. This has come to light as a result of Operation Captura. He will now be brought to justice in the UK. Read the full press statement.

Have a look at the remaining Operation Captura Most Wanted criminals

Sun, sea and serious organised crime - Operation 2 'Most Wanted' appeals launched

The UK crime-fighting charity, Crimestoppers, and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), have launched ten new appeals for information concerning dangerous British criminals believed to be on the run in the Alicante region of Spain.

Read the Operation Captura 2 press release

Informacion: Obtenga el comunicado de prensa en español

Give information anonymously on our online Giving Information Form or call 900 555 111

Obtenga mas informacion sobre Crimestoppers en Español aquí

Want to help?

We have some Operation Captura 2 posters available for you to download, print off and publicise as you wish, e.g. you could put them up in bars and restaurants if you're in Spain.

Download the I Spy poster

Background on Operation Captura

(En español: Lucha contra la delincuencia en la Costa del Sol)

Increasingly, crime in other countries has an impact on the UK. Although Crimestoppers has no formal mandate to act outside of this country, the charity does work on projects that can help to reduce crime in the UK.

For many years, Spain has been an appealing sunny hideaway for British criminals escaping justice. But this all changed in 2004 when European Arrest Warrants came into effect, making it easier to bring British criminals back into the UK's criminal justice system.

Drug wars

Despite the vast majority of law-abiding citizens in the ex-pat community, Southern Spain's massive tourist trade and convenient location make it an ideal spot for drug running. Recently, after reports of mafia-like battles and murders, it was estimated that there were almost 40 British crime syndicates operating in the Costas. Most of these are involved in the drugs trade.

Nowhere to hide

With our website's Most Wanted section already producing excellent results, Crimestoppers saw the potential to extend its power and capitalise on the internet's international reach. We saw another opportunity to tackle modern crime with a modern solution, and to this end our team set about organising Operation Captura, an online campaign working through Most Wanted.

Dave Cording, Crimestoppers' Director Operations, neatly summed up its objectives: “We started this project to tackle the growing level of criminality from British criminals, living and hiding primarily on the Costa del Sol. We particularly want to promote this campaign to the law-abiding British ex-pat community in Spain, who may unknowingly be living next door to a wanted criminal.”

A perfect partnership

In October 2006, a three-month pilot of the Operation Captura initiative, led by Crimestoppers and SOCA (the Serious Organised Crime Agency), was launched with ten appeals for information on criminals involved in serious organised criminality, appearing on Most Wanted. The appeals ranged from individuals wanted for murder or for major drug trafficking offences.

Through the huge amounts of publicity generated by both the British and Spanish media, there were some early successes with several of the criminals being tracked down and arrested mainly as a result of information passed to Crimestoppers.

As well as the two lead partners, Operation Captura could not have come about without the valuable assistance of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British law enforcement, the British Embassy and Spanish Government in Madrid. The telecommunications company, Telefonica, also played a significant role in pulling the project together by supplying us with a Spanish free telephone number – 900 555 111 – just a few digits different from our core hotline number. All calls to this number are answered in the UK by the Crimestoppers' 24:7 Call Bureau.

Success

A further two sets of ten appeals were announced after the first batch went live in October 2006. From a total of 30, thirteen arrests have been made to date. As a result of this notable success, the campaign has now been extended with the full support of the Spanish Authorities to Alicante and the surrounding area of Costa Blanca, another known haven for British criminality.

Arrests so far

James HURLEY – convicted killer of a police-man who escaped custody in 1994. He was arrested in 2007 in The Netherlands for drug offences.

Ian WHITE – tobacco smuggler who masterminded a £6million VAT scam, arrested in Spain. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment in his absence on the 11th March 2004. He was returned to the UK on the 20th September 2007 and after appearing in court he was sent to prison to start serving his sentence.

Anthony SIMMONDS – wanted for importing large quantities of cannabis from Spain and cheating VAT of £4million. Arrested in Spain in December 2006 and was returned to the UK in early 2007. After appearing in court his sentence of three year's imprisonment was confirmed. He was also given a three month sentence in respect of the absconding, which is being served consecutively.

Clifford HOBBS – escaped in custody on his way to court in London where he was to stand trial for the theft of £1.25million from a security van. Arrested in Spain and returned to the UK in August 2007.

Dante LATRECHE – wanted for credit card fraud. Arrested in UK in 2007 and has received suspended prison sentence.

John DOWDALL - wanted for importing large quantities of cannabis from Spain in 2003. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment in his absence on the 17th May 2005. After being arrested in Spain, he was returned to the UK in September 2007. After appearing in court he was sentenced to a further four month's imprisonment, which is to run consecutively to the sentence of his original sentence.

Markcus JAMAL – wanted for conspiracy for murder of Nageeb El Hakem in 2005. He arrested in Spain and returned to the UK in January 2007.

John SETON – wanted for the murder of Jon Bartlett in March 2006. Arrested in the Netherlands and returned to the UK in May 2007.

Donald HAISMAN – wanted for drug offences and arrested in Belgium in February 2008.

Lisa SANDERSON – Wanted for obtaining property mortgages by deception (3 offences in total, jointly with 7 others with a total monetary value of £1.2 million). She was arrested in Portugal in September 2008.

Robert SPIERS – was wanted in connection with a shooting in a UK public house, He was arrested in Spain in July 2008 after being on the run for two years.

James GULLIFORD - On 30 April 2003 it is alleged that Gulliford stabbed another man with a screwdriver over a suspected drugs debt. He was arrested in Spain in January 2008.

John Cearney BARKER - Barker was wanted under two European Arrest Warrants for trafficking in cocaine and amphetamine to the value of over £110,000 in 1998 and 1999 within Scotland. He was arrested in Spain earlier this year.