Episode 9 Fugitives

-Come on...

-On the run...

Get back here!

..and over here.

Hands out now, hands out.

When foreign criminals flee their home countries,

many hide out in the UK...

Give me your hands.

..but if they think they're safe - they're wrong...

They know they're wanted.

A lot of these people are waiting for that knock on the door.

..but the traffic in fugitives isn't all one way.

Across Europe there are hundreds of British criminals

also trying to escape justice.

From the sun-drenched Costas,

to the busy streets of the Dutch capital,

GLASS SHATTERS

This is how the police take down the fugitives.

You're under arrest under the Extradition Act.

Police officer!

..both at home, and abroad.

On today's programme,

a series of dawn raids across London

leads to the arrest of an elusive Portuguese woman

wanted for forgery and embezzlement...

There's no photograph and there's no fingerprints, I don't think.

If she says it's not her, then we've got to prove that it is her.

..the Leeds teenager almost beaten to death on camera...

how a Europe-wide DNA search led police to a fugitive

who had fled to Slovakia...

There is no hiding place,

because DNA is such a wonderful investigatory tool for us.

..and, after an audacious armed attack on a prison van,

this Salford gang member gets a nasty surprise

over breakfast in the Spanish sunshine.

London - home to the specialist squads of the Metropolitan Police...

Police, can you open the door please?

LETTERBOX RATTLES

..amongst them, the Extradition Unit.

Hello, it's the police, can you open the door please?

Teams of detectives working round-the-clock,

tracking down foreign criminals.

It's a manhunt unit -

we're looking at finding people

rather than investigating the crimes.

This unit hunts for fugitives

here to escape the law in other countries...

All right, this way.

..and brings them in to face justice.

Detective Chief Inspector Julie Bidewell

leads the Extradition Unit.

The intel that we've got on him,

can we start working on that in the meantime?

She's put Detective Sergeant Pete Rance

in charge of a major operation -

codename Absolute.

-OK.

-OK?

-We'll get some research done on it this afternoon.

-Right, lovely.

The aim of the operation is to find and arrest

more than 50 European fugitives in the Greater London area

over two weeks of coordinated action.

We have new cases coming in every day,

so we've always got a backlog.

On average we'll have between 180-280 open cases.

So, if we can increase the number of teams

that we've got going out and knocking on doors,

that enables us to make more arrests and to reduce that backlog.

Quarter to six in the morning, and Operation Absolute is underway.

Whilst Pete and his team head off to Deptford

to search for a wanted Lithuanian,

detectives Jamie Darby and Dave Salmon

are searching the streets of East London for their targets.

Hello, good morning. We're from the police,

we need to speak to the people that live here.

What nationality are you?

-French.

-You're French?

-Yeah.

What about the other people?

We need to speak to everyone here.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah, yeah.

OK.

Essentially, the unit is trying to track down people

that are wanted in foreign countries,

and they're either wanted to serve sentences for criminal offences

or to face trial for criminal offences.

So, day-to-day we're assessing the work that's coming in,

prioritising it, and then sending our teams out

to try and locate, identify and arrest the people that are wanted.

Operation Absolute has the backup of the UK's National Crime Agency -

but even with the best intelligence,

it's not always easy to track down wanted men and women -

as Dave has just discovered.

He's got the exact same name, same year of birth,

so...it's not the same guy.

He looks very similar to the chap, but it...

We've bottomed it out, it's not the same guy.

Detective Sergeant Pete Rance is running the operation.

He's out on the road on the other side of London.

South East London - we're looking for a fella wanted in Lithuania

for criminal damage, smashing up a petrol pump

in a petrol station in Lithuania, back in July 2013.

The house Pete's investigating has several occupants,

and they have to check every room...

Good morning, sorry to trouble you, sir.

We're from the police. You understand?

Yeah, yeah, I understand.

-OK, where are you from?

-I am from Italy.

From Italy?

..but the Lithuanian man Pete's after is no longer here.

He hasn't picked his mail up in over a week,

so my gut feeling is that the guy we've spoken to upstairs

is telling me the truth.

Neither of the teams are having much success so far.

Searching out fugitives

who continually change identities and addresses takes persistence,

but there are plenty more to go after.

I've got several addresses,

so we won't waste any more time with this one,

we'll go on to the next one now.

I've got another two in Romford,

so we'll see how we get on with them.

Hungary has issued a warrant for your arrest.

Later, things start to look up for Pete and Dave

as the arrests start flowing.

The criminal gangs of Salford in Greater Manchester

have for years held close ties to Spain.

When the heat at home becomes too much to handle,

some head for a place in the sun.

One of those was Paul Taylor.

He was wanted for breaking two individuals out of a prison van

in Salford - which, in itself, is quite an unusual crime,

and obviously quite a serious one, as well.

In April 2013, a prison van was stuck in Salford rush-hour traffic.

Inside were two men on their way to face trial

at Manchester Crown Court.

A car full of armed men and a motorcyclist were waiting.

We know that the green coloured Saab was parked here

on the left-hand side.

As the prison van approached from Regent Road towards the city centre,

the green car then shot across the junction

and pulled directly in front of the prison van.

The offenders then got out of the car and attacked the prison van

in rush-hour traffic.

It was a daring hijack.

Three men stormed the van,

determined to free two of the prisoners held inside -

members of their own Salford gang.

The men involved were wearing balaclavas,

in possession of a sledgehammer,

a firearm and a pickaxe.

CCTV shows the armed men forcing their way into the van

to release the prisoners,

and using their weapons to threaten the guards.

They were extremely traumatised by this incident.

It was horrific for them - but not only them,

it was rush-hour traffic at the time.

There was a large number of members of the public

sat in their own cars along Regent Road,

behind this van and obviously observed what happened.

The breakout became national headline news.

Two prisoners are on the run

after a gang of masked men ambushed a prison van in Greater Manchester.

It happened during the rush hour.

Police are now trying to find the men.

They are appealing for anyone with any information to get in touch.

Sharp-eyed witnesses spotted the motorcyclist,

who was also caught on CCTV.

Driving a stolen Superbike, but barely visible, was Paul Taylor,

riding pillion in a distinctive red jacket,

one of the escaped prisoners.

Within hours of committing the offence,

Taylor abandoned the motorbike,

called a taxi and fled the country.

He seemed to have planned his escape...

If you're going to break someone out of a prison van, anyway,

I think you're making quite a conscious choice

that you're going to be wanted.

This is a very definite act,

it's not heat of the moment, it's preplanned, it's thought about,

so he must have known that when he did that,

that he would have to go on the run straightaway.

So he was probably prepared to do that, really,

before he even committed the crime.

..but in his haste to escape,

Taylor left damning evidence at a garage near the scene.

They left a motorbike helmet, a leather jacket,

and, crucially, inside that leather jacket was a mobile phone

belonging to Paul Taylor.

The belongings Taylor left at the garage

provided police with a wealth of information

about the rest of the gang,

and some useful clues as to where he might be hiding out.

An examination of his own mobile phone

suggested that he'd been in contact with people in Spain.

We knew that, potentially, some family members owned a bar in Spain,

possibly in Alicante.

Despite the early leads, Taylor was elusive.

For the next ten months he managed to hide out in Spain -

but, by March 2014, the National Crime Agency

were close enough to issue a warrant for his arrest.

Later - how Spanish police

already had their suspicions

about the latest British criminal to arrive on the Costa Blanca.

They thought they were already aware of where Taylor might be,

so once we'd said to the Spanish,

"Look, we think he's probably in your country,"

they said, "We've probably got a lock on him already.

"We might have an idea of where he is."

When a wanted man or woman is taken into custody,

a DNA swab can be taken,

and their genetic profile added to a police database.

This information has transformed the way crimes are detected.

Most crimes will involve a contact between a victim and an offender.

That means there is a transfer,

or potential transfer, of body fluids

and that means there's an opportunity to do DNA profiling.

In March 2015, a teenager was viciously attacked in Leeds.

She'd been approached by a man.

He'd then picked her up,

lifted her off the ground,

taken her into the garden behind that high hedge...

thrown her to be floor with such force

that she sustained a very nasty injury to her hip and her pelvis.

The woman was then beaten with a rock and raped.

West Yorkshire Police launched a manhunt for the attacker,

who had left DNA at the scene.

They had a very, very dangerous sexual predator

roaming the streets of Leeds,

and, of course, that creates a lot of panic, understandably.

So, the pressure was on us.

We obtained a DNA profile from the offender from the scene

and I suppose we do get very used to science solving offences for us.

But there was no DNA match in the UK for the attacker in Leeds.

The man wasn't a known offender.

Yes, we've got a DNA profile,

but he's not recorded on the national DNA database.

So that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach

that we had a dangerous sexual predator

and he is somewhere out there,

literally, for me, felt like, you know,

I was searching for that needle in a haystack.

Police decided to carry out a targeted DNA swabbing exercise,

gathering samples from over 1,000 men living near the scene.

One of those men sampled was a close match

for the description of the attacker -

but a DNA test showed it wasn't him.

The gut feeling of the detective

was this guy looks very, very much like our rapist.

The DNA came back as not being a match.

The officer still had a bad feeling about him,

but of course the DNA is so specific that it can't lie.

Officers had unwittingly tested the offender's brother -

but why didn't the test indicate

that the man was related to the offender?

When forensic scientists carry out DNA profiling

of brothers or sisters, they'll be very similar in their nature,

but there will be differences.

So if there is a near match,

perhaps from a relative of the perpetrator,

then that may not be generated as a match

from the national DNA database.

With no matches in the UK, it was time to cast the net wider.

Was the man who'd sexually assaulted a Leeds teenager known abroad?

His DNA profile was circulated throughout Europe,

and within hours the offender was identified.

We got a phone call from the Slovakian Embassy saying,

he's a match for a guy called Zdenko Turtak.

"He's your man, what do you want us to do?"

Of course, that was a telephone call

that I'll never, ever forget receiving.

An absolutely amazing feeling.

A European arrest warrant was issued

and Slovakian police traced 22-year-old Turtak

to a Roma settlement called Velka Ida, where he was arrested.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police flew out to bring him back.

That was a major highlight of the investigation,

knowing that we actually had him now,

back within our jurisdiction

and then he can become part of the British judicial process.

With more and more people moving from country to country,

sharing DNA across borders is key to solving crime,

and the science is changing fast.

We now give the power of the analysis to the investigator

to be done in hours,

and that is a complete transformation of the current way,

in terms of forensic DNA profiling is conducted in the United Kingdom.

In court, Zdenko Turtak pleaded guilty to rape

and grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 20 years.

There was no bigger investigation in West Yorkshire,

and there hadn't been for some years before this.

Ultimately, he was miles away in a different part of Europe

when we arrested him, but arrest him we did, so there is no hiding place.

You will be found, because DNA is such a wonderful,

magnificent investigatory tool for us.

Across London,

detectives from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit

are conducting a special operation,

a series of early morning strikes

with the aim of arresting up to 50 wanted fugitives.

It's the police. Can you open the door, please?

The National Crime Agency is also part of the operation,

and for the past few weeks,

their officers have been seeking out intelligence

on the men and women wanted in other European countries.

When we get an incoming warrant, from wherever jurisdiction,

the first thing we do is run it through the UK systems,

Police National Computer, Police National Database.

We're looking for a UK connection.

And if we get, however small, a UK connection -

so something that identifies that the individual's here

or has been here - then we do further work.

So trying to identify where people are through telephone,

through working with police forces, working with informants,

working with social media,

take your pick. Anything...

and also the other government departments,

so tax office, health service, etc, those sort of things.

If the individual is of such a significant risk,

then the range of what we do

goes from the very, very minor to the quite intrusive.

But even with the latest intelligence,

so far this morning there have been no arrests...

DOG BARKS

Hello, it's the police. Can you open the door, please?

..but their persistence is about to pay off.

Detective Sergeant Pete Rance is after a man who's wanted in Hungary.

It's a Hungarian warrant.

This guy's wanted for using a stolen credit card

to go on a spending spree,

and...also for...

a burglary, so we're going to make an approach to the address.

Hopefully he'll be in, and if he is, we'll arrest him.

The man who is wanted to stand trial in Hungary

has been accused of theft and fraud.

After much searching, Pete finds the address he's looking for.

It's a house where each room is rented out separately.

Hello?

Hello? It's the police.

-Hello.

-OK, nothing to worry about.

-Yeah?

-I just need to know who lives in this room.

I'm from the police.

Can I come in?

There's, erm...

-Hungary...

-Yeah?

-Yes?

-Do you speak English?

-No.

-A little bit... Hungary has issued a warrant for your arrest.

OK, it doesn't mean he's in trouble in this country,

but he has to come with us and go to court in London,

and then a judge has to decide if you stay here

or if you go back to Hungary.

Now, Pete needs to get his man in front of a judge

as soon as possible.

In extradition, people have to be at court as soon as practicable,

and that's generally recognised as being there within a 24-hour period.

That means if you were to arrest somebody

at six o'clock in the morning, for example,

they have to be at court that day,

and the cut-off time for court is two o'clock in the afternoon.

If you don't get them there by two o'clock in the afternoon,

it's quite...you know, the law is quite specific

that the judge can discharge the case.

The suspected thief is taken to Charing Cross police station,

where his identity is confirmed.

From there it's a short journey to the Magistrates' Court,

where his case will be heard.

Across town, detectives Jamie Darby and Dave Salmon

are on the trail of a woman wanted for stealing money

from her employer in Portugal...

There's no photograph and there's no fingerprints,

I don't think, so we'll have to play it by ear.

..and identification is critical.

The ID's probably the most crucial thing...

If she says it's not her, then...

we've got to prove that it is her.

So if there is no photograph to sort of confirm who she is,

you need a passport or ID card, really.

Because when we put them before the judge at court,

we've got to say that it's definitely that person.

The name they have on the arrest warrant is quite a mouthful...

..Maria Isabel da Silva Albuquerque da Cruz.

She's been convicted of forgery

and embezzlement in Portugal

and was sentenced to three years

in prison back in 2010.

Hello, mate, sorry to bother you, police officer.

Sorry, what's going on?

I just need to come in and speak to your mum, that's all.

OK.

Maria, can you just confirm your name for me?

-Maria Isabel da Silva Albuquerque.

-And your date of birth?

3rd of August, '63.

OK. Maria, there's a warrant out for your arrest in Portugal, OK?

-There's a European Arrest Warrant.

-Oh, you're joking!

-No.

What's going to happen, listen,

what's going to happen is, she's got to come with us.

We're going to take her to the police station to book her in,

and then we'll to take her straight to court.

The judge will ask her

-if she wants to go back to Portugal or not.

-You're joking.

You're going to have to get dressed and come with us this morning, OK?

-But now?

-Yes, now.

The detectives are convinced they have the right woman...

..but they'll need to take her to the police station to be sure.

We're off to Belgravia police station.

As usual we will take fingerprints,

photograph and DNA and just process the lady.

It should take about half an hour.

Take her up to Westminster Magistrates.

So, normally you get it done within an hour and a half.

Once they arrive, she is checked in by the desk sergeant.

There's an extradition lawyer at court for you free of charge.

And there'll be... Do you want an interpreter there or not?

-No.

-Are you sure?

-Mm.

-OK.

Anyone arrested and brought into custody

is thoroughly checked against the records

to find out if there are any previous convictions

or other outstanding warrants for their arrest.

She's never been arrested before in this country,

so just to see if she comes back

with committing any further offences.

Finally, a sample of the woman's DNA and her photograph are taken,

so that all her details are now on record.

Obviously, if you're a fugitive,

you're not necessarily going to keep the same date of birth

or even the same first name -

you may change things around just a little bit,

just to try and throw people off the scent,

that you're the person that's actually wanted

in a foreign country.

So it's really important for us

to check out all of the information we get.

With her identity finally confirmed,

Maria Isabel da Silva Albuquerque da Cruz

is taken to Westminster Magistrates' Court,

where a judge will decide her fate.

In April 2013, 24-year-old Paul Taylor

was part of a gang of armed men who staged a daring hijack

on a prison van stuck in traffic.

Their mission - to free two prisoners on their way to court.

Taylor helped one prisoner escape on the back of a stolen motorbike.

They were in possession of weapons,

including a sledgehammer and a firearm.

They forced the driver to open the rear of the van

and entered the van inside and threatened the other officer inside.

Ten months later,

the gang and the prisoners who'd escaped

were all facing prosecution -

except for Taylor, who had fled to Spain.

He was involved in organised crime,

and it was likely his life was far better

than it would've been in the UK,

and certainly we didn't want him living the high life in Spain

while his co-defendants were on trial for very serious offences.

When wanted men flee to Europe,

it's the National Crime Agency

who send out their warrant for the arrest.

Taylor's warrant was picked up by Inspector Olga Lizana

at the Spanish police's fugitive unit in Madrid.

Any kind of European arrest warrant or international arrest warrant,

it comes to my office.

So, normally we open around five and eight new cases every day.

That doesn't mean that they're in Spain, but we have to check them.

We arrest about 350 people every year.

Olga enlisted the help of Inspector Jose Luiz,

from the Alicante area's serious crime team to find Paul Taylor.

He knew exactly where to look.

For Olga, Jose Luiz's local knowledge was invaluable.

We couldn't do it without them

because, you know, these guys know the area.

They know all the places, all the small villages,

so we really need their help to arrest the fugitives.

Intelligence from the NCA and Olga's unit

led them to Taylor's father's home

in a town called L'Alfas del Pi, a few miles north of Benidorm.

So, they performed surveillance on a property in the Alicante region

and they thought that, yes, that he was there.

They then surveilled him on what turned out to be a stolen motorcycle

heading down a motorway where he met some of the males at a cafe.

Jose and his colleagues made their move,

arresting the eight men

who were about to tuck into a hearty English breakfast.

Taylor was one of the last to be forced to the ground.

When officers checked the men's paperwork,

they found Taylor was using a false identity.

When he provided fake documentation, they questioned him,

asked for a few background details.

He wasn't able to give a convincing story,

he wasn't able to confirm who he said he was,

so they took him to the police station in Benidorm,

at which point he confirmed, yes, he was Paul Taylor,

and even said at that point

that he was ready to come back to the UK already,

so it didn't look like a lifetime on the run

was going to be cut out for him.

Taylor was extradited to the UK,

where the rest of his gang were already on trial.

Well, the whole team were absolutely elated,

because the trial had already started at that point.

It was still ongoing,

and we knew that we'd actually found him and he'd been located.

For Olga and Jose, it was a great result.

There's such a good cooperation right now

with the British authorities

that we're arresting a lot of British fugitives.

So, if they come here, we'll find them, sooner or later.

They always make a mistake,

and we have to be there just to detect that mistake

and then get them.

Five months after her arrest,

da Cruz was extradited back to Portugal

to serve her prison sentence for forgery and embezzlement.

In December 2016,

the Hungarian authorities decided to withdraw the warrant

issued for the man accused of theft and fraud

who was arrested in London 11 months previously.

Not so for serious criminal Paul Taylor.

In April 2014,

he was sentenced to five years and four months in prison

for his part in the armed raid on a prison van.