A BRITISH fugitive wanted for drug trafficking has been arrested by the Policia Nacional in Benidorm after a four-year search to bring him to justice.
Paul Brown, 50, from Manchester was checking into a hotel on Monday when officers swooped to detain him.
He’s been accused over the supply of Class A and B drugs.
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Officers launched an appeal to find him in 2020, following the bringing down of an encrypted communications network called Encrochat, which showed him as being involved in a ‘large-scale drugs conspiracy’.
In 2022, a European Arrest Warrant was issued for Brown, who was tracked down by a joint investigation involving the Policia Nacional, Greater Manchester Police(GMP) and the UK National Crime Agency.
He has been transferred to the custody of the National Court in Madrid to process his extradition.
Detective Inspector Rick Castley from the GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group said: “Brown stands accused of a significant drugs conspiracy, and our determination to locate him has not faltered over the years. “
“I would like to thank our colleagues at the National Crime Agency and Spanish law enforcement for supporting us in our relentless pursuit to find him,” he added.
Castley said that despite Brown being ‘on the run’ for four years, he ‘had not been forgotten’.
