Fugitives

The Metropolitan Police’s extradition team is out before dawn in north west London gathering intelligence when a new job comes in - an arrest warrant for a man wanted in Romania becomes the team’s top priority. Five years ago, Dorin Oprean was convicted of an attempted rape against an 11-year-old, and he has seven years left to serve in prison. How quickly can the team get this high risk offender off the streets? In 2013, an investigation by an elite team of Scotland Yard detectives into the biggest organised crime gangs in London uncovered the drugs kingpin behind a multimillion pound racket. By making his own drugs delivery, Paul Monk blew his cover and, when his associates were arrested, fled abroad. Working with Spanish authorities, British officers tracked him to a town near Benidorm. A coded document found in his luxury villa would eventually reveal the true extent of Monk’s crimes. And the Derbyshire police unit, who specialise in searching for people who have a history of committing crime abroad, are on the trail of a convicted Polish kidnapper. It is the job of the Foreign National Intelligence team to find him and return him to his home country.

Today, DS Pete Rance and his team from the Met’s extradition unit are once again out on the streets of London in pursuit of a Polish man who has got a prison sentence to serve for a serious drink-driving offence. With two false starts and an abundance of men who look like their fugitive, the team have to hope it is third time lucky. In Derbyshire, PC Charlie Lewis is also acting on a warrant from Poland. She is looking for a homeless man in Chesterfield who has a two-year prison sentence to serve for a string of previous convictions, including threats to kill, robbery and burglary. A seemingly straightforward job soon turns into a long search. The devious plan of a penniless lodger leads to murder in Swansea. David Ellis killed his landlord Alec Warburton in order to steal rent money, and fed a web of lies to police and his fellow tenants to cover up the truth. After disposing of the body in a north Wales quarry, the cold-blooded killer returned to the scene of the crime. But with South Wales Police suspicious of his involvement, Ellis fled to Ireland.

In May 2013, a call to Thames Valley Police set alarm bells ringing. A little girl called Sarah Dahane had gone missing in the small Oxfordshire town of Bicester. Angela Whitworth, Sarah’s mother, wanted to return to Africa with her daughter, but Nabil, Sarah’s father, didn’t want that to happen – and the court agreed. With the decision final, Nabil Dahane went to pick up his daughter for another visit, but Angela and Sarah didn’t arrive. Police went to Whitworth’s house, where they found Sarah’s body. She had been murdered by her mother. The race was on to find Angela Whitworth, but she was already on a plane to Nairobi. Would the authorities be able to trace her in Africa? Two teams are out early on the hunt for foreign criminals in London. DS Dean Coyle and his team are looking for a Romanian robber in West London, who has got a three-year prison sentence still to serve. Will the slippery fugitive cycle his way out of their grasp? Meanwhile, DS Pete Rance is in Hackney, hoping his research will lead him to a man accused of a very serious and violent crime. Abel Rostas fled Romania after being accused of attempted murder three years ago. A check of his ID reveals the arrest is the last 21st birthday present Rostas could hope for. And for criminals, Spain is a lot more than a holiday destination. It is a gateway into Europe for those who control the smuggling routes, and a bolt hole for those wanting to lie low. Hunting them down is an elite part of Spain’s Guardia Civil known as the 'Fugitives Unit’. It was set up to take on some of the most dangerous organised crime groups in the world, as well as British criminals looking for a safe haven abroad.

In February 2017, a desperate man walked into a Derby police station looking for help. His story indicated he was a victim of human trafficking and modern slavery, and Derbyshire Constabulary launched an investigation. They uncovered an organised gang trafficking slaves from Latvia to Derby. The victims would be put to work in legitimate jobs, and bank accounts opened in their name. The gang kept hold of the victims’ bank cards and details, and used their earnings to fund their own lifestyles. After six months of investigation, police raided half a dozen houses in Derby. They arrested six suspects, but five more had gone on the run. Amongst them were ringleaders Karens Pelcis and Madara Stromane. Police traced the money they had extorted, and discovered that most of it had found its way to Latvia. They would need to work with Latvian authorities to bring down the rest of the gang. After months of planning, police from Derby and Latvia carried out raids on luxury homes in a town outside the capital Riga. But nothing could have prepared the officers for what they would find. The 'Costa del Crime' is a popular escape for criminals on the run and police there are often on the lookout for fugitives from the UK. One who came to their attention was Gareth Bryan Edwards. In 2014, Edwards and his accomplice robbed a pawnbrokers shop, wielding axes and threatening staff. They smashed their way into display cabinets, stealing more than £75,000 worth of jewellery and watches. Before he could be captured, he fled to Spain and became one of the UK’s most wanted criminals. It was only a matter of time before he was spotted, and arrested, by Spanish police in Benidorm. And detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit are carrying out a number of searches across the capital. DS Pete Rance and his team are searching for a murderer wanted for shooting a man dead in a drunken row in Latvia, a Romanian kidnapper who took a woman and her daughter hostage and

Early morning in London and the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit are out in search of two people wanted in Italy for slavery and extortion. DS Pete Rance and his team decide to take a cautious approach as the pair has a history of violence. But, after a couple of days searching, the officers track down the pair and find the fugitives are not what they were expecting. Meanwhile, in Derby, the team are in the city centre, looking to arrest a man with a history of violent crime. The Latvian robber is an expert in martial arts and cage fighting, so the team are taking no chances and have an armed response team with them. After trying twice to catch him at the shopping centre he works in, the team seem to be out of luck and head to another job. Then they get a call from a security guard that might change their fortunes. And in the north west of England, a container of beef hides 400kg of cocaine destined for the streets of the UK. In 2013, port officials were doing routine checks on cargo when they came across a huge drugs haul. The NCA were alerted to the £70m find, and planned a sting to find those responsible. With the drugs switched for a dummy load, undercover officers followed the lorry to Wigan. The gang were traced, and most arrested, but one man proved elusive: David McDermott. Thinking he’d fled to Spain, officers concentrated the search there, before new information sent them to Ghana. With help from local police, the NCA began the task of tracking McDermott down in Accra, one of Africa’s biggest cities. But can they find their fugitive in a city of millions?

In London the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit are facing two very different challenges. DS Pete Rance and his team struggle through the rain and snow looking for two fugitives wanted in Poland. One man is convicted of rape, while the other has a history of drugs offences, and both have time still to serve in prison. Simon Dutton was one of the UK’s wealthiest cocaine smugglers, bringing drugs into the country concealed in air-conditioning units destined for a fake company. After watching his gang for months, police decided to intercept the next shipment, swapping the drugs for fake packages and following the consignment to Leeds. The gang member who was waiting was arrested, and soon the whole gang was taken down. But Dutton had disappeared. For six years, he managed to evade capture, using false names and passports to live a luxury lifestyle on the move around Europe. But like many fugitives on the run, his downfall was his need to see his family. By tracing their travels back and forth to Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, Hellenic Police and the UK’s National Crime Agency eventually tracked down the international criminal to a bar in the city.

In the last days of 2014, a young woman was found dead in a hotel in Cardiff. Nadine Aburas had been in a stormy, long distance relationship with New Yorker Sammy Almahri for almost two years. They through an online dating site and, in late December, Almahri flew to the UK to visit Nadine. But when her family discovered him at her flat, they threw him out. Realising he had left his phone and passport there, Almahri checked into a hotel and headed for the bar before persuading the manager to call Nadine to ask her to bring his belongings. After an argument over dinner, the pair went back to Almahri’s room. It was the last time Nadine was seen alive, and hours later Almahri was driving to Heathrow Airport. The murderer was now a fugitive, but where was he heading? DS Stuart Kershaw and PC Charlie Lewis are out in Derby, looking for a Slovakian man who has committed a long list of offences in the UK and Europe, and is now wanted on a deportation order. And the pair visit a property in Swadlincote where there are concerns about the welfare of the people living there. In London, detectives from the Extradition Unit are out searching for a criminal who went on the run after being convicted in Belgium for human trafficking offences. They are also keen to find a man who has a four-year sentence waiting for him in Romania for burglaries committed over a decade ago.

Detectives from Scotland Yard’s Extradition Unit are heading out of the capital in search of criminals wanted abroad. In Liverpool, officers are looking for a man wanted in Bermuda, accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, while in Norfolk, police track down a convicted armed robber from Brazil. In Derbyshire, the Foreign National Intelligence Team is on the trail of a Latvian man who has an extensive criminal record in Latvia, including convictions for rape and threats to kill. The team are determined he won’t be on the streets of Derby much longer. And the boxing match where violence erupted outside the ring. In October 2017, supporters gathered in Walsall for a boxing match between a local man and a competitor from Derby. As the match wore on, fan rivalry escalated into a brawl. The fight continued outside and, during the chaos, 19-year-old Reagan Asbury was fatally stabbed in the neck. With the attack caught on camera, officers worked quickly to identify the person responsible. But it was already too late. Their prime suspect, Tyrone Andrew, had already gone on the run.

In London, the teams of the Metropolitan Police’s Extradition Unit are searching for wanted people across the capital. DS Pete Rance and his team are trying to find a man convicted of murdering three police officers, and injuring another, in Croatia. His crimes were committed during the Balkans conflict, and the photo they have is very old, making the officers’ job of identifying him much harder. The teams also try to track down an Albanian people smuggler, a Romanian man believed to be part of an organised crime gang in the UK, and a Croatian company director accused of a €225k fraud. In Derbyshire, officers are on the road before dawn looking for a man wanted in Slovakia. Ludvik Banda is convicted of perverting the course of justice and has a four year prison sentence waiting for him. On a previous visit to his home, DS Stuart Kershaw and PC Charlie Lewis were told the wanted man had moved out. Now they know that’s a lie, and they’re not leaving without their man. North Yorkshire’s extradition specialist Paul Somerville prepares to arrest a British citizen who is wanted in Spain for crimes that date back years.

In October 2015, police became suspicious about a small aircraft that had begun to use Bagby airfield in North Yorkshire. When they moved to intercept the plane, the passenger ran away, leaving a suitcase containing seven kilos of cocaine behind. For two years, the search for Jason Waterman threw up no trace until, in June 2017, an appeal to find him was launched on Crimewatch Roadshow. That night, police at an airport checkpoint in Gibraltar were amazed when a very wet man gave himself up to them. The drug dealer, who had been on the run for almost two years, had swum to the British Territory to give himself up. In London, the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit are looking for two fugitives. DS Dean Coyle and his team are searching for a man with a history of crime back in Brazil. Jose Vieira left the country before serving a three and a half year prison sentence for possessing a gun. The team head for north London to try and find him. Meanwhile, DS Pete Rance and his team are on the hunt for a man who has been identified as a criminal both at home and abroad. Edwin Norona should be in prison in Italy for committing rape and serious assault, but instead he is somewhere in London. For Pete, getting him off the street is a priority. In North Yorkshire, the county’s fugitive hunter Paul Somerville is on the hunt for a man accused of a string of sex offences against children. But when officers go to arrest him in the seaside town of Scarborough, there is no sign of the wanted man.