Rogues’ gallery of ‘most-wanted’ criminals on sun isle revealed

Details of nine “most wanted” criminals thought to be hiding in Cyprus – including a suspected rapist and a man who allegedly helped smuggle £600,000 of heroin into Yorkshire – have been released.

The rogues’ gallery, which was compiled by Crimestoppers, the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and Cypriot authorities, includes Hasan Akarcay, 56, who is wanted by detectives in connection with the supply of Class A drugs after an alleged associate was found transporting 12.5 kilos of diamorphine into Bradford.

Among others on the list are 41-year-old Paul Lockwood, who is sought by Greater Manchester Police for allegedly raping a child; Wayne Smith, 38, who is wanted by West Midlands Police for his role in a horrific road accident that killed a 22-year-old man; and Costas Sampson, 21, accused of raping a woman in Ruislip, Middlesex.

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Martin John Power, 46, who is sought by the Metropolitan Police for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders out of an estimated £7m, and Martin Evans, 50, from Swansea, who ran a drug-dealing gang between 1999 and 2001, are also thought to be in the Republic of Cyprus or Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus.

Founder of Crimestoppers Lord Ashcroft said: “My hope is that we shall see more success in bringing some of the UK’s most-wanted fugitives to justice.

“While these suspected criminals will see Cyprus as a safe place to evade law enforcement, my belief is with the help of the local public and expatriate community, they will not be able to escape justice for much longer.”