Post date: Jul 08, 2013 11:42:12 AM
Spanish police arrest British fugitive Mark Alan Lilley sentenced to 24 years in prison in Bolton Crown Court for drug trafficking in 2000.
ALHAURIN DE LA TORRE, SPAIN (JULY 6, 2013) (POLICE) - Spanish police on Monday (July 8) released video footage of the arrest on Saturday (July 6) of one of Britain's most wanted fugitives, Mark Alan Lilley, 41, in Alhaurin de la Torre, in Malaga, Spain.
Lilley skipped bail in the UK but was sentenced in his absence to 24 years in prison in 2000 for drug trafficking, a police statement said.Police used ladders to climb over the tall main gate of Lilley's villa in southern Spain, forcing their way into the premises where they found the British fugitive in a hideout behind a closet.
Lilley had a computer where he controlled the security cameras monitoring the grounds of the villa.
The police statement said that Lilley's dogs alerted him to the police operation.
The police statement said Lilley's appearance had "changed considerably" and that he had become an expert in "vale tudo," a Brazilian martial art.
The Spanish police press release said Lilley's crimes date back to 1997 where a police investigation revealed he was the leader of a drug trafficking gang operating in the British county of Lancashire.