costa del sol
A new phase of Operation Captura has been launched with the slogan ‘I spy with my little eye... a criminal?’ to encourage public collaboration
18.11.09 - 12:26 -
Wanted. Benjamin Murphy, Stephen John Burnell, Martin Anthony Smith, Paul Walmsley and Michael Eddleston. Mark Ronald Brown, fatah Benlaredj, Stephen Henry Pitman, Jody Michael Flynn and joseph Stephen Morley.
Crimestoppers in collaboration with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) have launched a new appeal for the collaboration of the general public in the catching of criminals. This week in Malaga photos of another ten of Britain’s most wanted criminals thought to be hiding on the Spanish Costas were released with a clear message: keep your eyes open.
This time the crime-fighting charity is going one step further than just making an announcement. Around 2,000 beer mats and posters are to be distributed around some 600 British and Irish bars on the Costa del Sol. “I spy with my little eye..... a criminal?” reads the message.
“We ask citizens to look at these faces. If you know where they live, please contact us”, said the Crimestoppers Director of Operations, Dave Cording, in Malaga on_Wednesday. He reminded the public that calls can be made anonymously to the Crimestoppers Spanish freephone number - 900 555 111 - or online at www.crimestoppers.es.
The ten men whose faces appear on the new posters are wanted for crimes including rape, robbery and drug dealing.
“These appeals include some very nasty individuals and crimes, and we need you, the public, to help us put them behind bars where they belong. Please don’t approach these individuals as they are known to be dangerous”, Cording explained, stressing again that all information is taken in “total anonymity”.
Arrests in Spain
The first phase of Operation Captura was launched three years ago. Since then of the 40 criminals included 23 have been arrested or have handed themselves in. More than half of the arrests took place in Spain, three of them in the province of Malaga, explained Marceliano Gutiérrez, Chief Commissioner for the Secretary of State for Security, part of Spain’s Interior Ministry, who took part in the launch of the new campaign along with Robbie Bulloch of the British Embassy in Madrid.
Here on the Costa del Sol the Spanish police also value the collaboration of the general public. Citizens can provide information related to crimes or the whereabouts of criminals, anonymously, in a number of different languages, at the following e-mail address: malaga.costadelsol@policia.es.
