Arrest of one in all Slovakia’s most wished raises border safety fears | UK | News | EUROtoday

One of Slovakia’s most wished criminals has been arrested within the UK elevating new questions over border safety.

Roman Lakatoš, 38, was arrested within the Peterborough space on a European Arrest Warrant.

He was capable of enter the nation on an unknown date regardless of being a fugitive.

Slovakian Police spokeswoman Denisa Bárdyová instructed the nation’s press in a translated launch: “Roman Lakatoš is considered one of the most wanted Slovaks, in the past he was actively involved in an organised group committing serious drug crimes.

“Since he was on the run, proceedings have been carried out towards him as a fugitive, and on July 25, 2023, he was legally sentenced to fifteen years for drug crime.”

The arrest warrant was issued after he fled Slovakia while under investigation in January 2021.

The Slovakian Ministry of Interior said an international operation involving the UK’s National Crime Agency led to the arrest.

A hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 16 heard he should not be bailed due to him being “prone to abscond and offend and as a result of size of the sentence he has to serve.”

He is opposing extradition and he was remanded into custody with the case adjourned till later this 12 months.

He is the most recent in a sequence of convicted international fugitives who’ve slipped into the UK earlier than later being arrested and extradited.

A Home Office spokesperson mentioned: “We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously and anyone whose presence in the UK is deemed not conducive to the public good will be refused entry.

“All individuals seeking to enter the UK are assessed and the failure to satisfy the strict criteria to enter may mean their application to enter will be refused.”