Walsall drug smuggler who was on the run for six years caught in Spain

Robert Knight has been wanted ever since a gang tried to import six kilograms of cocaine through Heathrow airport in 2008.

The 53 year old was found playing poker at a bar in Valencia on Thursday night and is now in police custody, with extradition proceedings under way to bring him back to the UK.

He has been on the most wanted list of suspected criminals from the West Midlands in recent years and his last known address was in Brownhills.

Knight was arrested as part of a joint operation between the National Crime Agency, Spanish police and West Midlands Police. He is the 62nd wanted fugitive to be arrested as part of Operation Captura.

Hank Cole, head of international operations for the NCA, said: "Knight is believed to be a member of a organised crime group involved in the importation and distribution of illegal drugs.

"He had been on the run for a number of years but we were able to track him down. Spain is not a safe haven. The NCA and its partners will continue to pursue fugitives relentlessly."

Operation Captura, is a multi-agency campaign between Crimestoppers, the NCA and the Spanish Police, was first launched in 2006.

Along with his connections to Brownhills, Knight was also thought to have links to Lichfield and Birmingham as well as Belgium, Gibraltar, Thailand and South Africa.

West Midlands Police previously said they believed Knight may have been living in the Eastepona area of Spain, around 20 minutes from the holiday hotspot of Marbella.

There have been 76 suspects appealed for in the last eight years with the arrest of Knight the most recent.

Founder and chairman of Crimestoppers, Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC, said: "Robert Knight has been at large for six years and I am delighted that the collaborative work of the agencies involved in Operation Captura has once again brought success.

"This latest capture brings the arrest rate to 82 per cent, and with just 14 individuals still to be located,

He added that it was only a "matter of time" before the remaining people were caught with information received through Crimestoppers.