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20 February 2011
Last updated at 19:04 ET
By Ben Ando
BBC News crime reporter
A new Crimestoppers' campaign targeting UK criminals thought to be hiding in Spain, is being launched in Alicante.
Tip-offs after past Operation Captura announcements have led to 38 out of 50 fugitives being returned to the UK to face trial or complete jail terms.
Anthony Fraser, grandson of ex-London gangster "Mad" Frankie Fraser, is wanted over cannabis smuggling claims.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency will also name nine others including alleged murderers, robbers and a paedophile.
The majority of the 38 caught and returned to the UK in the past to face trial or resume jail sentences - a 76% success rate - were tracked down to the Spanish costas, where the launch later is taking place.
Tip-off strategy
Operation Captura was first launched in 2006 and is widely considered to be the UK's, if not the world's, most successful campaign to target fugitives abroad.
Crimestoppers' Operations director Dave Cording: "I think a lot of the ex-pats living out in Spain see these people, don't like the way they behave, and want to help."
"We've probably had 600 pieces of information. And of all the calls we've had, not once has anyone tried to claim a reward."
At their call centre in the UK, Crimestoppers' phones are staffed 24 hours a day, and interpreters are on hand to assist with any Spanish callers.
The tip-offs received are relayed via Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), to the Spanish police in Madrid.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
They then notify local snatch teams known as "Greco" units and if a suspect is positively identified, they will be arrested.
Once in custody, the suspects appear in court in Spain before being returned to the UK.
Extraditions that used to take years of legal wrangling are now rubber-stamped in days, following the introduction of European Arrest Warrants in 2004.
The 10 names on each Captura list are selected by Soca from lists of wanted suspects sent to them by police forces across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
They are graded according to how dangerous they are to the public, how serious their suspected offences are, and how strong the intelligence is linking them to the Spanish costas.
"Operation Captura is helping make the ex-pat Community in Spain an uncomfortable place for fugitives," says Ken Gallagher, Soca's Head of European Operations.
"Having the public's attention focussed on these individuals goes a long way to making it harder for them to hide."
Family link
But why are so many criminals still attempting to hide in Spain?
Dave Cording thinks many of the fugitives choose Spain because although foreign, it is familiar.
"I suspect having looked at some of the names it's all to do with family," he explains.
"A lot have settled there and these are now the offspring of the villains."
Among those being sought this time is Anthony Fraser - grandson of the former South London gangster Frankie Fraser.
He is wanted for questioning in connection with a plot in 2009 to smuggle cannabis hidden inside a lorry consignment of frozen chickens into the UK.
The other nine names will be issue later at the official launch event.
They include a man wanted to complete a 25-year jail sentence, two suspected murderers, several drug dealers and man facing child sex charges.
Tip-offs after past Operation Captura announcements have led to 38 out of 50 fugitives being returned to the UK to face trial or complete jail terms.
Anthony Fraser, grandson of ex-London gangster "Mad" Frankie Fraser, is wanted over cannabis smuggling claims.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency will also name nine others including alleged murderers, robbers and a paedophile.
The majority of the 38 caught and returned to the UK in the past to face trial or resume jail sentences - a 76% success rate - were tracked down to the Spanish costas, where the launch later is taking place.
Tip-off strategy
Operation Captura was first launched in 2006 and is widely considered to be the UK's, if not the world's, most successful campaign to target fugitives abroad.
Crimestoppers' Operations director Dave Cording: "I think a lot of the ex-pats living out in Spain see these people, don't like the way they behave, and want to help."
"We've probably had 600 pieces of information. And of all the calls we've had, not once has anyone tried to claim a reward."
At their call centre in the UK, Crimestoppers' phones are staffed 24 hours a day, and interpreters are on hand to assist with any Spanish callers.
The tip-offs received are relayed via Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), to the Spanish police in Madrid.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
Having the public's attention focussed on these individuals goes a long way to making it harder for them to hide”
End Quote
Ken Gallagher
Soca
They then notify local snatch teams known as "Greco" units and if a suspect is positively identified, they will be arrested.
Once in custody, the suspects appear in court in Spain before being returned to the UK.
Extraditions that used to take years of legal wrangling are now rubber-stamped in days, following the introduction of European Arrest Warrants in 2004.
The 10 names on each Captura list are selected by Soca from lists of wanted suspects sent to them by police forces across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
They are graded according to how dangerous they are to the public, how serious their suspected offences are, and how strong the intelligence is linking them to the Spanish costas.
"Operation Captura is helping make the ex-pat Community in Spain an uncomfortable place for fugitives," says Ken Gallagher, Soca's Head of European Operations.
"Having the public's attention focussed on these individuals goes a long way to making it harder for them to hide."
Family link
But why are so many criminals still attempting to hide in Spain?
Dave Cording thinks many of the fugitives choose Spain because although foreign, it is familiar.
"I suspect having looked at some of the names it's all to do with family," he explains.
"A lot have settled there and these are now the offspring of the villains."
Among those being sought this time is Anthony Fraser - grandson of the former South London gangster Frankie Fraser.
He is wanted for questioning in connection with a plot in 2009 to smuggle cannabis hidden inside a lorry consignment of frozen chickens into the UK.
The other nine names will be issue later at the official launch event.
They include a man wanted to complete a 25-year jail sentence, two suspected murderers, several drug dealers and man facing child sex charges.