A 40-year-old man, regarded as “one of the UK’s most wanted men,” has been arrested by the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) in Boliqueime, in the Algarve region.
In a statement released on Thursday, authorities disclosed that the man is suspected of crimes involving “criminal association and illicit drug trafficking.”
The man, identified as the leader of a “criminal organization dedicated to the international trafficking of cocaine and hashish in large quantities,” had been on the run for approximately two years following a court ruling.
In the UK, the PJ highlighted that there are known incidents of violence and attempts to evade authorities, including attempted vehicular assault.
The arrest was made “within the context of international police cooperation with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), complying with an international arrest warrant issued by the UK’s judicial authorities.”
The foreign national was in Portugal using a false identity. He will be brought before the Court of Appeal in Évora to determine his extradition to the requesting country, Scotland.
