Experts meet at Europol to trace, locate and arrest Europe’s Most Wanted criminals

In the past two days over 50 experts from more than 20 countries met at Europol headquarters to share intelligence and techniques that help to trace the top priority fugitives from justice. The conference, co-chaired by Europol and Interpol, was opened by Mr Fred Teeven, Dutch Deputy Minister for Security and Justice, who emphasised the importance of ensuring that those found guilty of serious crimes serve their sentences. Mr Teeven also spoke about how criminals on the run often commit more crime to maintain their freedom.

During the conference delegates learned how ENFAST (the European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams) has been granted EU funding for a two year project that aims to further develop the ENFAST network and its capabilities to trace, locate and arrest the most difficult and dangerous fugitives from justice – wherever they are in the world. The global reach of ENFAST is achieved with the support of Interpol.

The main messages of the conference were about developing a rational approach to fugitive work. This involves sharing knowledge of successful techniques and new opportunities, and developing a more complete understanding of the opportunities that different jurisdictions offer as well as the difficulties they present. This knowledge needs to be formalised into training for new staff and developing training will be a key objective of the project that is now supported by EU funding.

Europol’s role in tracing, locating and arresting fugitives is mainly in the areas of intelligence development and secure, fast, international cooperation using Europol’s secure systems and liaison officer networks. The fugitives are often known to Europol from previous investigations and wherever possible this information will be made available to the ENFAST teams – who are usually different to those investigating the serious crimes that brought the person to justice in the first place.

Conference participants were all operational police officers with responsibility for tackling the EU’s most wanted fugitives. The ENFAST network is about sharing specialists’ extensive knowledge and identifying gaps in legislation, technical problems and practical issues that make it difficult to trace criminals across national borders.

The conference acknowledged the key roles that Interpol, Europol and the Schengen Information System play in tracing and arresting fugitives but also recognised that, in the most difficult cases, routine measures are often not enough.

Operational analysis, technical surveillance and detailed investigative work are required to trace fugitives and, in some cases, diplomatic pressure and extraordinary legal measures might be required to secure arrests and extraditions. In almost all cases the need for fast-time operational contacts in other countries are critical for the success of operations – ENFAST provides this fast-time support and the experience in dealing with sensitive cases.

The theme of the conference was better, faster, communication - Europol is committed to supporting ENFAST by providing a dedicated ENFAST forum on its Europol Platform for Experts and by promoting the use of SIENA and other Europol applications to provide secure, fast-time communication. Interpol also offered its global support through its I-24/7 system and the famous Red Notices circulated globally for international fugitives.