In this photo released Sunday May 12, 2013, by the Spanish National Police and British Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), showing the moment British fugitive Andrew Moran is arrested Friday May 10, 2013, as he relaxed next to the pool of a luxury villa in Alicante, Spain. (AP Photo / Spanish National Police/SOCA)
Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that Andrew Terence Moran, 31, was nabbed Friday afternoon in a dramatic raid at a luxury villa in Calpe, a resort on the Alicante coast.
According to Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, armed officers swooped in on him as he relaxed beside a pool. The police also seized two handguns, 60 rounds of ammunition and a machete.
“Moran thought he could evade capture fleeing to Spain, frequently changing his appearance and using false identities,” said Matt Burton, SOCA’s head of investigations.
Moran had been on trial on allegations involving armed robbery and authorities described him as dangerous.
Moran and an associate, Stephen Devalda, 29, were accused of stealing GBP 25,000 (USD 38,400) from a mail van in Colne, northwest England, using a handgun, machete and baseball bat. A security guard was injured in the May 2005 robbery.
During his escape from custody in 2009, Moran assaulted four security guards and vaulted over the courtroom dock. He was convicted in his absence of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Alerted to his presence near the Mediterranean coast, Spanish police located and tried to capture him last November. However, Moran managed to flee after using his vehicle to ram two belonging to the police and driving off at high speed on the wrong side of a highway.
A search of the house he had been living in at the time uncovered a handgun, ammunition, and 11 pounds of cannabis, among other items.
Moran is due to appear in a Madrid court on Monday where a judge will begin extradition proceedings.
Devalda was arrested in March 2011 at a hotel in the southern luxury resort of Marbella. He was extradited to Britain where he was sentenced to nine years and eight months in jail for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and seven months for jumping bail.