One of Britain’s most wanted men, who has been on the run for eight years, has been arrested in Dubai.
Michael Paul Moogan, 35, was allegedly involved in a large-scale trafficking plot.
The alleged international drug dealer from Croxteth, Liverpool, was held on April 21 after a joint operation between the National Crime Agency and police in Dubai.
He will be returned to the UK to face trial.
Details of his arrest were only made public for the first time today due to operational reasons, the NCA said.
Moogan had been on the run since a raid at a Rotterdam cafe which was suspected of being used as a front for meetings between drug traffickers and cartels.
It was also central to an alleged plot to bring hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the UK every week.
(Image: PA)
Working with the Dutch National Crime Squad, the NCA became aware of information that linked Moogan and two other British men to the Cafe de Ketel – a business not open to the public that could only be entered via a security system.
NCA officers suspected that Moogan and his alleged associates were involved in plans to import drugs from Latin America to the EU.
At the time of the raid, only one of the men, Robert Hamilton, 71, from Manchester, could be found.
He was jailed for eight years in 2014 after pleading guilty to drug charges.
The other man, Robert Gerard, 57, from Liverpool, handed himself in to the NCA after three years on the run, claiming the pressure was too much.
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He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and was jailed in 2017 for 14 years.
Moogan is the 86th person arrested under Operation Captura – an NCA fugitive campaign run in conjunction with Crimestoppers.
NCA officers established that Moogan was using numerous false identities to avoid capture.
Dubai Police believe that after entering the UAE using a different identity, he tried to avoid CCTV in an attempt to elude detectives.
NCA director of investigations Nikki Holland said: “This arrest is the result of years of investigation involving a range of law enforcement partners in the UK, Europe and Middle East.
“We are extremely grateful to those partners for their assistance in ensuring Moogan now faces justice and particularly thank the Dubai Police for their efforts to track him down.
“He will be returned to the United Kingdom to face trial.
“This case should serve as a warning to others on the run from the NCA – we have a global reach, we never give up and they can never rest easy.”
NCA director general (operations) Steve Rodhouse added: “The arrest of Moogan further reflects great co-operation between the Dubai Police and the NCA.
“I’d like to commend their work, in particular detectives from the General Department of Criminal Investigation in Dubai, who showed exceptional professionalism and were able to use all the techniques at their disposal to locate him and carry out this operation.”
