‘Prison is missing you – come back to make up the numbers.’ Have postcards gone out of date, like the telephone call box and the hula-hoop? Not for police across Europe who are sending such greetings to the Continent’s most dangerous criminals on the run. Visit https://eumostwanted.eu/summercampaign.
Through the European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams (ENFAST) and the European Union’s police agency Europol, law enforcers are asking for citizens’ help to find the locations of ‘Europe’s Most Wanted’. ‘Postcards’ created on www.eumostwanted.eu/summercampaign feature fugitives, who have done serious crimes in 21 EU countries, for whom traditional investigative measures have so far not led to arrests. They are believed to be hiding in a different country to the crime, such as murder, fraud, child sexual offences, or trafficking of drugs.
Crowd-sourcing the search has proved of use in tracking down fugitives. Since the launch of www.eumostwanted.eu in early 2016, more than 2.5 million unique visitors have visited the website. Some 36 criminals featured have been arrested, of whom at least 11 were apprehended as a direct result of information provided by the public via the platform. Four turned themselves in.
