Rapist on list of UK’s top 10 most wanted

Mohammed Jahangir Alam, 32, lived in Bradford for six months after coming to the UK from Bangladesh on a temporary visa in 2007.

He is on the list of 10 men, published by the National Crime Agency, thought to have fled to Spain and who are wanted for crimes, which include indecent assault of a child and drug trafficking.

Alam, who moved to Cheltenham in 2008, was sentenced to 14 years in his absence in March 2010 for three counts of rape and one of sexual assault by penetration.

Another fugitive is ex-soldier Shane Walford, 38, who killed an off-duty fireman Paul Gibbons with a single punch outside a bar in Coventry.

The former boxer was released on licence in 2012 after being convicted for manslaughter in 2010, but failed to attend appointments and was recalled to prison.

A third, Paul Buchanan, originally from New York, but who was living in Redditch, is wanted by police after pulling a woman into a driveway, pushing her over a car and attempting to rape her.

Her screams alerted residents and the 29-year-old fled the scene.

It comes after police launched an operation last week to arrest suspected British drug trafficker Jayson McDonald who is believed to have been living in Spain.

More than a dozen armed officers along with detectives from the Metropolitan Police carried out a dawn raid on a luxury villa in Coin near Malaga but McDonald was not found.

Inspector Olga Lizana, head of the Spanish National Police Fugitives Unit, said authorities in the UK and Spain were working closely to track down wanted suspects.

Speaking at Malaga’s police headquarters, Insp Lizana said British criminals living in Spain should “leave the country” because they will be found.

“This is not a safe place for criminals any more,” she said.

“I think we are doing a great job with the British authorities. They have to be aware we are working together.”

The high-profile initiative called Operation Captura, run by the National Crime Agency, Crimestoppers and the Spanish authorities, has seen 65 out of 76 wanted British suspects detained since its launch in 2006.

Last year alone, 54 fugitives were arrested in Spain and brought back to the UK, the NCA said.

Hank Cole, head of international operations for the NCA, said many British criminals have discovered Spain is not a “safe haven.”

“There is a very definite sense that if a fugitive is known to be in Spain, then our officers and the Spanish authorities will find them and they will be arrested,” he said.

“In fact we believe that Operation Captura does have a significant unsettling impact on British criminals living here.

“They have found Spain is a far more hostile environment to operate in.”

Insp Lizana said she was “disappointed” McDonald evaded authorities but insisted she was she “100 per cent” confident he would be caught.

“For sure he is not going to be back in the UK so we’ll arrest him here,” she said.

Here is the list of 10 fugitives believed to be in Spain which has been published by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Crimestoppers:

• Shane Walford, 38, is wanted by West Midlands Police for manslaughter. Walford, a former soldier and boxer, was jailed for 54 months in July 2010 after he killed firefighter Paul Gibbons at a bar in Coventry.

He was recalled to prison in August 2013 after breaking the terms of his licence.

• Mohammed Jahangir Alam, 32, who is wanted by Gloucestershire Police for rape and sexual assault by penetration.

Alam, who is originally from Bangladesh, arrived in the UK on a temporary visa in October 2007 and lived in Bradford before moving to Cheltenham in 2008. It was there that he physically and sexually abused one victim, the NCA said.

He was convicted in March 2010 and sentenced to 14 years in his absence.

• Carlo Dawson, 52, is wanted by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of indecent assault and making indecent photographs of a child.

Dawson, from Croydon, south London, is believed to have indecently assaulted a 12-year-old girl between October 1996 and October 1997. When Dawson’s computer was seized in 2013, officers found indecent photographs of children, the NCA said.

• Paul Buchanan, 29, is wanted by West Mercia Police on suspicion of attempted rape. Buchanan, who is originally from New York, is alleged to have attacked a woman near his flat in Redditch, Worcestershire, by pulling her down a driveway, pushing her over a car and attempting to rape her.

She screamed which alerted neighbours who came to her aid before Buchanan is alleged to have fled the scene.

• Paul Monk, 54, is wanted by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Monk, from Romford, Essex, was allegedly involved in the handover of a kilo of cocaine in Cockfosters, north London, in May 2013. He is also linked to the seizure of 23 kilos of herbal cannabis and one kilo of cannabis resin in October 2013 in Colchester, Essex.

• Anthony Dennis, 47, is wanted on suspicion of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking offences outside the UK and conspiracy to import class A drugs.

He is believed to be the lead member of an organised crime group involved in high-level international drug trafficking. Between July 2012 and October 2013, Dennis, who is originally from Hackney, north London, allegedly conspired with others to import three tonnes of cocaine from South America into the Netherlands.

• David McDermott, 41, is wanted on suspicion of conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to blackmail.

McDermott, from Ormskirk, is believed to be a member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in a conspiracy to supply cocaine. Around 400 kilos of cocaine was found hidden in a container of frozen Argentinian beef in May 2013 at Tilbury Docks.

Not knowing the cocaine had been seized, he was seen by NCA officers meeting with other members of the crime group. They allegedly discussed the use of violence against anyone who had information.

• Scott Hughes, 34, is wanted by Merseyside Police on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to launder money. Hughes, from Halewood, Merseyside, is said to be a principal member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in the large-scale supply of controlled drugs.

A police search of his home in May 2011 found more than £210,000, a cash counting machine and a watches worth £8,000.

Sixteen people have already been convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering as part of the investigation. A firearm was recovered along with more than 14 kilos of cocaine, £970,000 in cash and watches worth more than £190,000.

• Michael Roden, 25, is wanted by West Midlands police on suspicion of conspiracy to import cannabis. Roden, who has the nickname “Dodge”, was allegedly involved in 70 kilos of cannabis being imported into the UK from Spain between April 2013 and September 2013.

Roden, originally from Redditch, Worcestershire, was previously convicted in October 2010 of large-scale production of cannabis and jailed for three years. Following his early release in 2011, Roden failed to meet his probation conditions and is wanted for recall to prison.

• Jayson McDonald, 37, is wanted by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of conspiracies to import and supply heroin and cocaine. McDonald, who is originally from Bristol but had been living Acton, west London, is believed to be a member of a Europe-wide organised crime network responsible for the importation of Class A drugs into the UK.

A number of people have already been charged in connection with the investigation which has resulted in the seizure of a “significant amount of money and drugs”, the NCA said.