Mark Liscott: Fugitive drug dealer captured in Amsterdam after eight years on the run
Written by News on 01/07/2020
One of Britain’s most wanted fugitives who has been on the run for nearly eight years has been arrested in the Netherlands.
Mark Liscott, 59, from Great Barr, Birmingham, was captured carrying €18,000 (£16,000) in cash when he tried to escape from officers in Amsterdam by jumping across neighbouring balconies.
The officers, acting on intelligence that drugs were being traded, had been raiding a house in the Dutch capital on 24 June when they made the arrest.
Liscott was jailed in 2005 for the large-scale supply of cannabis in the Midlands.
He fled the UK after being released on licence in 2012 and has been pursued by the “dogged determination” of a number of international law agencies.
Following the arrest, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said it would “never stop working to ensure there is a reckoning” for fugitives like Liscott.
Paula Pinches, head of the NCA’s International Crime Bureau, said: “Despite his best efforts, the arrest of Mark Liscott shows once again that international law enforcement agencies will catch up with long-time fugitives from UK justice.
“However long they’ve been on the run and however protected they feel within criminal circles abroad, we never stop working to ensure there is a reckoning for them.”
Liscott is wanted by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) in the UK and will be required to serve the remainder of his nine-year prison sentence.
Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Kirby, head of EMSOU, said: “Despite the current pandemic, the dogged determination of international and UK law enforcements agencies hasn’t stopped and a great amount of effort went into tracking down Mark Liscott.
“It is extremely satisfying, not only to the officers who worked on the original case, but to those who have been pursuing Liscott since he became one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives.
“Regardless of how much time has passed, Liscott has always been on our radar, and I’m glad his criminal exploits have now caught up with him.”
(c) Sky News 2020: Mark Liscott: Fugitive drug dealer captured in Amsterdam after eight years on the run
