Fugitives are still gambling on Spanish hideouts despite continued success for the authorities tasked with tracking them down.
The country has long been a common destination for Merseyside’s Most Wanted, particularly the Costa del Sol.
And - whether through misplaced hope or desperation - the trend appears to be continuing.
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Spain is one of the most popular places for fugitives from the region to run away to.
Attractions include the existence of established crime networks - some closely connected to the North West underworld - that can help someone lie low and attempt to set up a new life on foreign soil.
The Costa del Sol’s significant British ex-pat community and its appeal to holidaymakers also provides cover that can help a suspect stay below the radar even if they are the subject of international search efforts.
In recent years the United Arab Emirates has emerged as a new fugitive hotspot - with drugs gang suspect Michael Moogan and Warrington gun and drug boss Leon Cullen among those captured in Dubai.
But horror stories about the conditions in which fugitives are held have deterred others from heading there.
Cullen was subjected to beatings and made to brush his teeth with soap, Liverpool Crown Court heard following his extradition to the UK.
Spain, therefore, like the Netherlands, continues to appeal to Merseyside fugitives as revealed by the launch last month of a National Crime Agency Most Wanted campaign specifically targeting suspects thought to be hiding there.
Of those 12, four had links to Merseyside.
Campaign leaders vowed to show that Spain is “ not a safe haven ”.
That has already been made clear in recent years, with 86 fugitives thought to have travelled to the country having been found over the course of Operation Captura, an initiative run with the charity Crimestoppers.
The NCA’s close links with the Spanish authorities, and a record of success at finding suspects there, was backed up within 24 hours of the campaign launch when Joshua Hendry was caught in Marbella.
The suspected drug dealer, from Walton, was caught in the same area that convicted Formby drug dealer Dominic McInally was found in back in 2020.
The arrest led to the NCA’s Tom Dowdall to announce: “This is a rapid result and it’s testimony to the power these appeals can have as well as the NCA’s international reach.
“Whether it’s using tip-offs from the public, sharing intelligence or deploying specialist capabilities, UK law enforcement and our Spanish partners are working as one to trace and arrest the other 11 fugitives.
“Those men will know now that we’re after them. They can live their lives anxiously looking over their shoulders and wondering if today’s the day they get caught or they can do the right thing and hand themselves in.”
In 2021, 25 British fugitives were captured in Spain and a number of Merseyside-linked criminals spooked by the hack of communications network EncroChat are thought to have fled there in the past 18 months.
So many believe the country remains their best bet for evading police, despite the risks of being caught.
The difficulties they face are intensified by the approach of the Spanish authorities, which have made clear they do not want British fugitives on their soil.
Backing the NCA Most Wanted campaign, Rafael Pérez Ruiz, Minister for Security of the Spanish Ministry of Interior, said: “The campaign allows us to reinforce and strengthen police collaboration between Spain and the United Kingdom with the aim of creating a hostile environment which impedes criminal organisations from setting up in Spain and criminals from settling in our cities.
“Now more than ever it is necessary for everyone to join forces to give a coordinated and effective response to new security challenges.”
