A MAN dubbed ‘Britain’s most wanted cocaine baron’ has been arrested in Benidorm.
The search for Louis Edwards, 44, had initially focused on Malaga but investigators finally tracked him down to a hotel in Benidorm.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) believe that Edwards was the leader of a gang that distributed cocaine across southern England.
Guardia Civil had been given information that he was in Alicante province and on being told by the NCA that some of his relatives were moving to the area, they switched their attention to Benidorm from Malaga.
A Guardia Civil spokesman said: “After close surveillance of this family group, the investigation focused on a hotel in Benidorm, where the fugitive was located and arrested.”
Last month police swooped in on one of the most wanted fugitives in Spain, capturing him within 48hours of a nationwide appeal in which his photograph was widely distributed.
Manuel Bellido Moreno, 46, is considered the biggest currency counterfeiter in Spain and is thought to be behind the distribution of high volumes of large fake bills since 2013.
At a very noticeable 6ft 5 (2metres tall), the forger was likely recognised from his mugshot which appeared alongside nine other of Spain’s most wanted.
The list includes a British murderer and a Belgian drug dealer as well as a sex trafficker, gun runner, armed robber and a paedophile.
The Spanish police force is hoping for the same success that has been achieved with similar campaigns launched to capture notorious Brits on the lam on Spain’s Costas.
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