Swiss police have arrested a 35-year-old Belgian man wanted for a serious crimes, including hostage-taking, armed robbery and drug trafficking.
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Keystone-SDA/Kantonspolizei Zurich/sb
Zurich cantonal police saidExternal link on Thursday that the suspect, described as “one of the most wanted criminals in Europe”, had been arrested just before midnight on February 16, 2022 in Zurich. The person accompanying him – a 28-year-old Dutch woman – was also arrested.
The man’s arrest in Zurich ends an important search operation that lasted months.
The Belgian was sentenced to four years in prison in March 2020 in Antwerp, Belgium, for robbery as part of an organised gang, armed robbery and kidnapping. He was on the wanted lists of the Belgian police and Europol.
The fugitive was also the subject of several criminal investigations, according to the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office, including serious cases linked to organised crime and international drug trafficking, of which the criminal is suspected.
The Belgian authorities intend to request his extradition from Switzerland.
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