Wanted Black Country drug dealer arrested in Amsterdam after seven years on the run

Mark Liscott was jailed in 2005 for the large-scale supply of cannabis resin in the Midlands – but the 59-year-old fled after being released on licence in 2012.

It was believed he became involved in distributing drugs with crime groups in London and Nottingham after leaving prison.

Liscott, who is from Great Barr, was apprehended on the morning of Wednesday, June 24, in Amsterdam, following an operation by police in the Dutch capital.

Officers, acting on intelligence that drugs were being traded, raided a house in the centre of the city.

Liscott attempted to evade capture by jumping across neighbouring balconies, while carrying around 18,000 Euros in cash. However, he was successfully apprehended by police.

He is wanted by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) in the UK. In December 2018, he was named as one of the country's most wanted criminals.

Liscott is required to serve the remainder of his nine-year prison sentence – and is suspected of involvement in other drugs offences following his release on licence in 2012.

He had been made subject of Operation Return, the National Crime Agency and Crimestoppers campaign targeting UK fugitives potentially on the run in the Netherlands.

Globally

Paula Pinches, head of the National Crime Agency's International Crime Bureau, said: "Despite his best efforts, the arrest of Mark Liscott shows once again that international law enforcement agencies will catch up with long-time fugitives from UK justice.

“However long they have been on the run and however protected they feel within criminal circles abroad, we never stop working to ensure there is a reckoning for them.

“The National Crime Agency operates globally to fight serious and organised crime, and to protect the UK public from the violence and exploitation that that results from the class A drugs trade.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Kirby, head of EMSOU, added: “Despite the current pandemic, the dogged determination of international and UK law enforcements agencies hasn't stopped and a great amount of effort went into tracking down Mark Liscott.

“It is extremely satisfying, not only to the officers who worked on the original case, but to those who have been pursuing Liscott since he became one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives.

"Regardless of how much time has passed, Liscott has always been on our radar, and I am glad his criminal exploits have now caught up with him.”