Some of Europe's most notorious criminals have been on the run for years. Some of them are likely to live a normal life now, but they have a dark past, which they are desperately trying to hide. The network ENFAST (European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams) - European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams), with the support of Europol, today launches its annual pan-European information and awareness campaign "EU Most Wanted 2021», Aiming to locate and arrest those wanted who may be hiding… in public view.
Europol needs you!
All the criminals presented in this campaign are wanted for serious crimes, such as murder, drug trafficking and human trafficking. Europol invites everyone to visit the website EU Most Wanted, to see the photos of the criminals. If we identify someone from the list, we can inform Europol, anonymously, through this website. Each of us can help law enforcement arrest a criminal who has been hiding for many years.
Almost all EU member states are participating in this year's EU Most Wanted campaign. The EU Most Wanted website publishes a total of 62 wanted criminals.
To date, 110 wanted persons have been arrested
Since 2016, when the EU Most Wanted website was "uploaded", the annual information campaigns on the internet have been a continuous success. In 2020, a total of 16 wanted persons were arrested, five of them thanks to the annual EU Most Wanted information campaign. In addition to the information collected by the citizens, the increase of public awareness due to the campaign, forces the criminals to surrender to the Police Authorities.
A total of 110 wanted criminals have been arrested since 2016. 41 of these arrests are directly related to information obtained through the EU Most Wanted website.
Speaking on the EU Most Wanted campaign, Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Europol's Deputy Chief Operating Officer, said: "The focus of this campaign is on bringing justice to the victims. By checking the faces on the EU Most Wanted website, each of us can help identify a criminal who has been wanted for many years, be arrested and brought to justice. "Europol and the national law enforcement authorities need the help of all of us in the fight to safeguard the citizens of Europe."
EU Most Wanted was launched by the ENFAST Network in January 2016, with the full support of Europol. ENFAST members specialize in locating persons against whom European arrest warrants are pending, either because they are suspects or because they have been convicted of a serious crime. Cooperation between Member States is particularly important in the management of such cross-border crimes, as some wanted persons move from country to country, escaping arrest.