{"id":23334,"date":"2026-05-14T13:23:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/23334\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:23:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:23:20","slug":"north-east-man-named-on-list-of-uks-12-most-wanted-criminals-hiding-in-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/23334\/","title":{"rendered":"North East man named on list of UK’s 12 most wanted criminals hiding in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Crime Agency is warning ex-pats and holidaymakers: “These are not the people you want in your neighbourhood.”Kali Lindsay<\/a> Durham Reporter and Margaret Davis Press Association Crime Correspondent<\/p>\n

13:31, 14 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Undated<\/p>\n

Liam Michael Murray, a wanted criminal thought to be hiding in Spain who is named in the latest list under Operation Captura(Image: Copyright remains with handout provider)<\/p>\n

A North East man has been named among 12 of Britain’s most wanted fugitives believed to be hiding out in the Spain.<\/p>\n

The National Crime Agency (NCA) unveiled its latest list of wanted criminals alongside Spanish police and Crimestoppers on Thursday, issuing a stark warning to expats and holidaymakers: “These are not the people you want in your neighbourhood.”<\/p>\n

The list features Liam Michael Murray, aged 34, who was last known to be in Durham. He is wanted for drugs offences and money laundering. He is accused of being involved in the supply of cocaine, cannabis and possessing criminal cash. He is thought to be in the Alicante region.<\/p>\n

It also includes Alexsandr Vladimirovich Kuksov, also known as Alexander Kuksov, 23, last known to be residing in Tenerife, who stands accused of belonging to a criminal network that laundered millions for UK drug dealers by converting cash into cryptocurrency, offered the reverse service to cyber criminals, and assisted Russian oligarchs in circumventing sanctions through UK property purchases.<\/p>\n

Kevin Thomas Parle, 45, is sought by Merseyside Police in connection with two murders \u2013 those of Liam Kelly in Liverpool in 2004 and Lucy Hargreaves in Walton in 2005. He has connections to Malaga and Costa Blanca.<\/p>\n

Derek McGraw Ferguson, 62, described as white, 5ft 3ins, stocky and balding, is wanted by Police Scotland for the murder of Thomas Cameron outside a pub in Auchinairn Road, Glasgow, on 28 June 2007.<\/p>\n

Since Operation Captura was launched 20 years ago, there have been 11 public appeals identifying the most wanted criminals suspected of sheltering in Spain, with 98 of 111 offenders and suspects successfully apprehended.<\/p>\n

NCA deputy director of international Rick Jones warned that criminals deliberately attempt to blend in amongst British expat communities, frequently continuing their illicit activities while residing in Spain.<\/p>\n

\"Undated<\/p>\n

Top row left to right: Charlie Salisbury, Francis David Parker, Liam Michael Murray, Matthew Purves, Simon Dutton and Derek McGraw Ferguson. Bottom row left to right: Kevin Thomas Parle, Alexsandr Vladimirovich Kuksov (also known as Alexander Kuksov), Philip Barry Foster, Spencer Dillon Lamb, Dean Eighteen and John Rocks.(Image: Copyright remains with handout provider)<\/p>\n

He told the Press Association: “They will generally integrate themselves into these communities, which are populated by many, many thousands of British people who are perhaps enjoying their retirement or running businesses there.<\/p>\n

“Criminals will do what they do here, which is integrate themselves and hide among society, and then abuse that trust of those communities and offend against them, or indeed these days it’s very easy to offend against victims or vulnerable people in other countries from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

“That’s why we are so determined to leave no stone unturned and no safe place for them to do that and offend against the Spanish communities and our own back here.” Fugitives frequently employ counterfeit passports bearing different identities, and in extreme instances undergo surgical procedures to modify their appearance in attempts to evade detection while establishing their new lives abroad.<\/p>\n

“These are serious criminals and there’s nothing glamorous for the victims who’ve been hurt by these individuals, whether that’s people who have unfortunately got themselves addicted to drugs and will be harmed in a great, great many ways by that, or people being subject to frauds and perhaps lost a huge amount of money, maybe their life savings, from some of the individuals here,” Mr Jones said.<\/p>\n

“They’ve chosen to operate outside the law and they’ve chosen to leave this country and abuse the hospitality of a close neighbour of ours.”<\/p>\n

Throughout the previous Operation Captura appeal, members of the public provided information within a matter of days.<\/p>\n

“(Suspects) shouldn’t feel that they are safe there. But the reason some of them choose Spain is that there are these large communities there, English-speaking, and they feel that they can hide better amongst that fraternity.<\/p>\n

“They need to be outside the UK to avoid our attention and they will look for places where they can integrate themselves, and a British expatriate community is ideal for that for them.”<\/p>\n

Over the past year, 56 criminals have been extradited from Spain back to the UK.<\/p>\n

NCA director general operations Rob Jones stated: “Fugitives rarely stop offending while on the run.<\/p>\n

“They continue to harm communities in both Spain and the UK, and attempt to stay under the radar by blending into large British ex-pat populations.<\/p>\n

“These are not people you want in your neighbourhood.”<\/p>\n

British ex-pats residing in Spain and holidaymakers visiting the country are being urged to examine the most wanted list.<\/p>\n

Those with information are advised against approaching the suspect or informing them or anyone else should they decide to come forward. Those with any information are urged to contact Crimestoppers anonymously in the UK on 0800 555 111, or in Spain on 900 926 111, where calls will be handled by Crimestoppers in the UK with translation services available if needed.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, individuals can complete an anonymous online form via the UK charity’s website at https:\/\/crimestoppers-uk.org\/spain.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Crime Agency is warning ex-pats and holidaymakers: “These are not the people you want in your…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10332,102,10331,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-23334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-county-durham","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-durham-constabulary","11":"tag-spain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}