British fugitive arrested in Spain
One of Britain’s most wanted fugitives, who fled the country during his trial for an armed robbery in the UK, is arrested by a swimming pool in a dramatic raid by Spanish police.
Andrew Moran, 31, had been on the run since 2009 and was was arrested in a dramatic raid at a luxury villa in the resort of Calpe, Alicante.
Moran fled the UK four years ago after vaulting the dock in a Burnley courtroom as he went on trial over a £25,000 armed robbery of Royal Mail guards.
He was convicted in his absence for the theft, which took place in 2005 outside an Asda store in Colne, Lancashire, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said.
An elite team of armed officers swooped on the robber while he was relaxing by a swimming pool near the Spanish coast.
Moran was one of seven men targeted as part of a multi-agency initiative to combat organised crime in Salford.
‘False identities’
The north-west regional organised crime unit, also known as Titan, worked alongside Soca and the Spanish national police on the raid.
They recovered two handguns, 60 rounds of ammunition and a machete at the pool-side property
Moran was on the most wanted list for Crimestoppers’ operation captura campaign, and his arrest means 50 fugitives have now been caught since it was launched.
“Moran thought he could evade capture fleeing to Spain, frequently changing his appearance and using false identities,” said Matt Burton, Soca’s head of investigations.
“Like his partner in crime, Devalda (Stephen), and the other armed robbers on the hit-list discovered, though, there’s no hiding place. Soca and its partners have the capability to pursue criminals relentlessly, track them down, and put them behind bars.”
Previous escape
Moran was tracked down to the Murcia area of Spain in November 2012 but he managed a lucky escape from local officers by ramming two police vehicles in his 4×4 and driving off at speed the wrong way down a motorway.
A search of the house he was living in at that time recovered a handgun, ammunition, five kilos of cannabis, and a vacuum packing machine.
Extradition proceedings are under way and Moran will be appearing at a court in Madrid on Monday.
Devalda, who carried out the 2005 robbery with Moran, was arrested at a hotel in Marbella, Spain, in March 2011. He was jailed at Preston Crown Court for nine years and eight months for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and seven months for breaching bail.
Muted footage below from Spanish police.