UK deports man linked to death squads

The removal of Rodrigo Grande Vargas from the UK after serving a prison sentence for passport fraud will bring an end to inquiries by the Metropolitan Police involving suspected crimes against humanity and torture.

If the authorities in Peru launch their own inquiries, the Met would be likely to assist with information obtained during Grande Vargas’s time in the UK.

Last March, the Yorkshire Post revealed that Grande Vargas had become the first UK resident to be arrested since a change in the law in 2010 which extended the retrospective reach of UK authorities to prosecute for war crimes and crimes against humanity back to 1991 from the previous cut-off point of 2001. The allegations dated back 20 years to a period when Peru was gripped by brutal civil conflict and death squads were involved in the killing or disappearance of thousands of civilians.

Grande Vargas’s arrest in Tiverton, Devon, was linked to an account of his activities he gave to the UK Border Agency after entering the country in 2002 and applying for asylum.

But as inquiries continued into his history in Peru, Grande Vargas was charged with the possession of a false Spanish passport found at the time of his arrest and subsequently sentenced to 12 months in prison in August.

Exeter Crown Court heard the document was genuine but a photograph of Grande Vargas has replaced the picture of the original passport holder.

In October, the sentence was cut to eight months and following release from prison Grande Vargas has been deported.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “A 47-year-old Peruvian man was removed from the UK on 31 January after serving a jail term for possessing a false passport.

“The UK Border Agency works closely with police to tackle immigration crime and we will do all we can to remove foreign nationals who commit offences in the UK.”