Britain's most wanted cocaine fugitive arrested in Ghana
One of Britain’s most wanted fugitives was this week captured in Accra following a three-year manhunt for his connection to a plot to smuggle cocaine worth £71m into the UK.
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According to Mirror.co.uk, David McDermott of Ormskirk, Lancashire, was the last man still being hunted by an international operation involving officers from the National Crime Agency and Ghana’s Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
It said, the 42-year-old who is also suspected of being a member of an organised crime syndicate from Liverpool, was married to the daughter of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Ramona Wampah.
McDermott who is currently being held by the BNI, is also wanted for conspiracy to blackmail.
The operation was launched in 2006 to trace wanted criminals suspected of fleeing to Spain to avoid the British authorities.
Speaking after McDermott’s arrest, Dave Allen, head of the NCA’s international crime bureau, said: “This arrest is a result of closely working with the Ghanaian authorities, and shows our determination and success in tracking down fugitives, however far they run in an attempt to evade capture.
“McDermott was the last man outstanding in a plot to smuggle a huge quantity of cocaine which would have ended up on the streets of Merseyside. He will now be returned to the UK to stand trial.”
“While those featured as part of the campaign are suspected of being in Spain, the fact McDermott was picked up in Ghana is yet again evidence that no matter where fugitives are they will be found.”
