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Michael Moogan (pictured), one of the UK’s most wanted fugitives, was apprehended in Dubai on April 21, 2021, in a joint operation involving Interpol, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Dubai Police. (National Capital Area). According to reports, A British criminal accused of involvement in a cocaine-smuggling ring has been apprehended. In Dubai on Sunday.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Michael Paul Moogan, 35, had been on the run for eight years after police raided a café in the Netherlands and seized firearms and hundreds of thousands of Euros in cash. After a joint operation between the National Crime Agency and police in Dubai, the suspected foreign drug dealer from Croxteth, Liverpool, was apprehended on April 21. He will be extradited to the United Kingdom to stand trial. The NCA stated that the details of his detention were only made public today for operational purposes.
Interpol, Dubai Police, and the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom collaborated to apprehend Moogan on April 21. (NCA). The NCA said in a statement that it can release details now due to operational reasons. Following a raid on a Rotterdam cafe suspected of being used as a front for drug traffickers and gang meetings, authorities in the Netherlands have launched an investigation.
Moogan had been on the run. Moogan is also charged with attempting to import a significant quantity of drugs from South America into Europe, according to the NCA.
Department of Criminal Investigation, who displayed excellent professionalism and were able to locate him and carry out this operation using all available techniques.” But, unfortunately, it was also at the heart of a rumored scheme to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the UK every week. The Rotterdam café was discovered the cash and weapons were reportedly used as a meeting place for drug dealers and cartels preparing weekly shipments of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the UK.
Working with the Dutch National Crime Squad, the NCA discovered evidence linking Moogan and two other British men to the Cafe de Ketel, which was closed to the public and only accessible via a surveillance device. Just one of the men, Robert Hamilton, 71, was found at the raid from Manchester. Since pleading guilty to opioid charges in 2014, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. Robert Gerrard, 57, was also linked to the narcotics plot and surrendered to UK authorities in 2016, claiming that the stress of becoming a fugitive was too much for him to bear. Officers from the NCA discovered that Moogan was hiding behind several fake identities to avoid being apprehended. Dubai Police suspect he tried to escape CCTV to elude investigators after entering the UAE under a false identity.
They were able to track him down using the most up-to-date technology, like the Criminal Data Analysis Center. Moogan and his supposed associates were accused of being involved in attempts to bring narcotics from Latin America into the EU, according to NCA police. Just one of the men, Robert Hamilton, 71, was found at the raid from Manchester. Since pleading guilty to opioid charges in 2014, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. After three years on the lam, the other man, Liverpool’s Robert Gerard, 57, surrendered to the NCA, saying the strain was too much.
In 2017, he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and received a 14-year term. Moogan is the 86th person apprehended as part of Operation Captura, a joint NCA-Crimestoppers fugitive program. Officers from the NCA discovered that Moogan was hiding behind several fake identities to avoid being captured. Dubai Police suspect he tried to escape CCTV to elude investigators after entering the UAE under a false identity.
“This arrest is the culmination of years of investigation involving some law enforcement partners in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East,” said NCA director of investigations Nikki Holland.”We thank those partners for assisting us in bringing Moogan to justice, and we thank the Dubai Police in particular for their efforts in finding him.”This case should serve as a cautionary tale to those fleeing the NCA: we have a global scope, we never give up, and they can never rest easy.”
After obtaining a Red Notice from Interpol, Dubai Police arrested Moufide’ Mouf’ Bouchibi, accused of being involved in drug trafficking and smuggling activities across Europe with an approximate annual street value of $82.6 million. According to Wam, Bouchibi, 39, lived under a false name, according to the state news agency Wam. In addition, when Dubai Police apprehended him, he owned forged papers. According to Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, the arrest is another milestone in the successful collaboration between Dubai Police and international law enforcement agencies to ensure global security and safety.
Jérôme Bonet, the French Judiciary Police’s Central Director, praised Dubai Police’s contribution to combating foreign drug trafficking and, more generally, organized crime. He praised the strong collaboration that led to Bouchibi’s arrest between the French Anti-Narcotics Agency (FAST) and the Dubai Police. After exchanging required details with the French authorities and Interpol, Major General Expert Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs at Dubai Police, said a team of elite officers was immediately assigned to the mission.
Bouchibi eluded detectives for more than a decade, according to Brigadier Jamal Salem Al-Jallaf, head of the General Department of Criminal Investigation (CID), and became a significant trafficker smuggling 60 tonnes of narcotics to Europe every year with an approximate annual street value of $82.6 million. As a result, Bouchibi was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Bordeaux Court in 2015, he said. Al-Jallaf went on to say that the man, who had entered the country under a false name, was apprehended after Interpol issued a red notice against him.
” “This posed a huge challenge to our investigators, who have already shown exceptional professionalism in assessing available evidence and using new resources to serve justice and track down terrorists.” According to the director of Dubai Police CID, the detention of ‘Mouf’ represents a successful partnership between Dubai Police, the French authorities, and Interpol.
He went on to say that Dubai Police carried out the whole procedure from the moment they got the Red Notice before the arrest was made at zero hours.”As soon as our officers conclude their investigation, Bouchibi will be referred to the Public Prosecution for further legal proceedings, and the UAE Ministry of Justice will settle on the procedures for his extradition based on current Interpol understandings and agreements” Al-Jallaf said.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/michael-paul-moogan-arrest-dubai-b1844539.html
