Fugitives

In February 2017, a desperate man walked into a Derby police station looking for help. His story indicated that he was a victim of human trafficking and modern slavery, and Derbyshire Constabulary launched an investigation. They uncovered an organised gang trafficking slaves from Latvia to Derby. The victims would be put to work in legitimate jobs, and bank accounts opened in their name. The gang kept hold of the victims’ bank cards and details, and used their earnings to fund their own lifestyles. After six months of investigation, police raided half a dozen houses in Derby. They arrested six suspects, but five more had gone on the run. Amongst them were ringleaders Karens Pelcis and Madara Stromane. Police traced the money they’d extorted, and discovered that most of it found its way to Latvia. They would need to work with Latvian authorities to bring down the rest of the gang. After months of planning, police from Derby and Latvia carried out raids on luxury homes in a town outside the capital Riga. But nothing could have prepared the officers for what they would find. And detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit are carrying out a number of searches across the capital. DS Pete Rance and his team are searching for a murderer wanted for shooting a man dead in a drunken row in Latvia, a Romanian kidnapper who took a woman and her daughter hostage, and two Moldovans convicted of counterfeiting.

In 2013, an investigation by an elite team of Scotland Yard detectives into the biggest organised crime gangs in London uncovered the drugs kingpin behind a multimillion pound racket. By making his own drugs delivery, Paul Monk blew his cover, and when his associates were arrested, he fled abroad. Working with Spanish authorities, British officers track him to a town near Benidorm. A coded document found in his luxury villa reveals the true extent of Monk’s crimes. The devious plan of a penniless lodger leads to murder in Swansea. David Ellis killed his landlord, Alec Warburton, in order to steal rent money, and fed a web of lies to police and his fellow tenants to cover up the truth. After disposing of the body in a north Wales quarry, Ellis fled to Ireland. The Metropolitan Police’s extradition team is out before dawn in north west London, after receiving an arrest warrant for a man wanted in Romania. How quickly can the team get this high-risk offender off the streets? And they search for a Polish man who has a prison sentence to serve for a serious drink-driving offence. With two false starts, and an abundance of men who look like their fugitive, the team will have to hope it’s third time lucky. And a Derbyshire police unit who specialise in searching for people who have a history of committing crimes abroad are on the trail of a convicted Polish kidnapper. It’s the job of the Foreign National Intelligence team to find him and return him to his home country.

Detectives from south Wales work with Tanzanian police to locate a murderer on the run in Africa, the Met Police search for two people convicted of slavery and extortion offences in Italy, and DS Dean Coyle is in Norfolk hoping to track down a convicted armed robber from Brazil. Meanwhile, the National Crime Agency are on the hunt for the man behind a conspiracy to import 400kg of cocaine in a container of frozen beef. With help from Ghanaian police, the NCA began the task of tracking him down in Accra, one of Africa’s biggest cities. But will they find their fugitive in a city with a population of over one million?

Police officers from the UK and Uganda trace a woman who fled the UK after killing her own daughter. Police in Yorkshire pursue a man who used a light aircraft to smuggle cocaine, and a team of officers in London are on the hunt for a man who should be in prison in Italy for committing rape and serious assault. And for criminals, Spain is a lot more than a holiday destination. It’s also a gateway into Europe for those who control the smuggling routes, and a bolt hole for those wanting to lie low. Hunting them down is an elite part of Spain’s Guardia Civil known as the 'Fugitives Unit’.