One of the UK’s most wanted men has been arrested as he sat down to eat his Christmas dinner in The Hague.
28-year-old Daniel Burdett, from the Liverpool area, was arrested by Dutch police under a European Arrest Warrant as he dined in a restaurant on Christmas Day.
He’d spent five years on the run from the law, according to a spokesperson from the National Crime Agency.
Burdett is suspected of being the ringleader of a criminal gang that has been using truck drivers in order to smuggle firearms and ammunition into the UK. He’s also wanted by Merseyside Police for drugs offences.
After his arrest, he now faces 10 charges of conspiracy to import firearms, as well as additional charges for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.
He had previously featured in a campaign by the Liverpool Echo called ‘festive fugitives’ that was aimed at tracking down the most wanted people from the area.
Now, he must face the magistrates in The Netherlands, who will decide whether to extradite him back to the United Kingdom to stand trial for his alleged crimes.
NCA branch commander, Mark Spoors, said: “The arrest of one of our long-standing fugitives is a fantastic result.
“Burdett thought he could evade the law by exploiting international borders, but his arrest shows that no matter where you are, we will catch up with you.
“Other fugitives should pay attention to this and remember how determined UK law enforcement is.
“Thanks to the co-ordinated response by the Dutch police and Merseyside Police, Burdett is now facing extradition to the UK.”
Burdett isn’t the only man who has been arrested as part of this investigation. Another man has already been sentenced to eight years in prison in connection, and another is currently awaiting trial.
Back in 2016, the Liverpool Echo described Burdett as being “white, about 5ft 9in tall, of a medium build and with ginger hair.”
They also mentioned that he had links to the Vauxhall area of Liverpool. However, as we now know, he turned up in The Hague.
They were seeking to find him after a quantity of a class A drug was discovered in the Merseyside area.
Speaking of the slightly unusual timing of the arrest, Spoor continued: “The public can be assured that the NCA is relentlessly pursuing those suspected of causing the most harm to the UK, even on Christmas Day.”
