Foreign 'criminals' still flooding into UK undetected post Brexit - 'how do we stop them?'

Convicted and alleged “gangsters” have been sneaking into Britain and only an urgent review of border controls can stop them, campaigners have warned.

Several convicted and alleged top-tier criminals from across eastern Europe, including those wanted in connection with contract killings and drug trafficking, have been able to live in the UK, meaning they cannot be prosecuted in their native countries without protracted extradition cases taking place first.

One – Romanian Costel Zlatan, 34 – is wanted in Italy in connection with the Mafia-linked contract murder of Francesco Catalano on Valentine’s Day 2019.

Zlatan was arrested in the Bedfordshire area in February and refused bail due to his alleged “association with a criminal group and access to financial means”, according to the court record.

He fought extradition from custody, with a hearing last month ending when a judge said he should be extradited. However, the court confirmed today he has not lodged an appeal and has yet to be removed.

Others include Pole Krzysztof Szlachetko, 44, suspected of leading an armed criminal group, who is wanted in Poland to face charges for drug trafficking and an axe murder.

His extradition was ordered by a district judge in May. He has also not appealed and has yet to be removed.

Former Met Police Det Ch Insp Dave McKelvey said: “There is case after case of people wanted for serious crimes in the top echelons of crime in eastern Europe, and they don’t seem to have any problem getting into the country.

“The Government must review each case to see how they entered and what could have been done to prevent it.”

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “It is high time the Government looked closely at the ease with which criminals and fugitives not only enter the country illegally but also, in some cases, get to stay.”

And David Spencer, research director of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “The cases are the tip of the iceberg. It is a damning indictment of the failure of the Home Office and the UK Border Agency that such people were able to just walk into this country unchecked.

"A review seems sensible, although the priority should be removing those who shouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t want it to be used to kick the issue into the long grass.”

Florin Ghinea, 49, was arrested as he left a Watford gym in August 2018. He was Romania’s main fugitive and also on Europol’s most wanted list. He was accused of being the head of an organised crime network involved in sex trafficking, conspiracy to murder, blackmail and money laundering charges.

During his extradition battle, details emerged of alleged corruption with political figures in Romania, with him claiming his life was at risk. However, he failed and in February 2020 Ghinea, nicknamed “Ghenosu”, was extradited to Romania.

Sebastian Gnyp, 37, was wanted in Poland to serve a sentence for “participation in an organised crime group” and investigation for several dishonesty offences.

It was discovered he was wanted following his arrest in 2022 over a series of ram-raid burglaries across the Home Counties that caused £1.5million in damage and lost earnings to victims.

He was jailed for three years last year and initially fought extradition, but he has since consented and was extradited in April.

Roman Lakatoš, 38, fled Slovakia, while under investigation for drug trafficking in January 2021 and entered the UK on an unknown date, despite being a fugitive. He is considered one of Slovakia’s most wanted men.

Proceedings were conducted in his absence and last July he was sentenced to 15 years for drug crimes. He was arrested in the Peterborough area on a European Arrest Warrant in February and is currently fighting extradition.

The number of extradition cases for England and Wales grew significantly from 2004 and again after 2012, when several eastern European countries enjoyed the benefits of free movement from EU membership.

In 2003, 50 extradition cases were heard a year at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where one room was occasionally used.

In written evidence to a House of Lords consultation on extradition, it was revealed that by the end of 2013 that number had risen to 2,200 cases – only 82 did not originate from the EU. The figure rose to 2,382 in 2015.

However, numbers declined after the 2016 Brexit referendum and figures released by the Ministry of Justice show that by 2018 it was down to 1,573 cases.

Mr McKelvey believes eastern European crime groups, who entered on false Italian passports, flourished because police did not see human trafficking as a priority and major intelligence was ignored.

He said: “I was involved in Operation Beregond in 1997/98 and we followed a high-net worth Romanian female, connected to politicians, to a restaurant in Surrey where we witnessed her meeting senior British criminals.

“She explained that the new crime era was there for them to purchase properties and she could provide the ‘people’ they could use to take their benefits and put them to whatever ‘work they wished’.

“Intelligence was passed to superiors in the Met who chose to ignore it, as human slavery was not on the radar and we were told to focus on drug dealers.”

He said that around 2005 a major operation involving three undercover Lithuanian police officers had many successes in identifying the growing eastern European crime networks in north-east London. There were several arrests for drug trafficking and firearms offences.

However, when it uncovered evidence that eastern European crooks were auctioning women in a café to be sex trafficked, superiors looked the other way and shut down the investigation, branding it too complex.

Mr McKelvey said: “If these cases were properly acted upon we may not have seen the explosion in eastern European crime groups now faced and in human trafficking offences now a priority because it is everywhere.”

A Met Police spokesman did not dispute Mr McKelvey’s claims.

He said: “Our work tackling modern slavery and human trafficking has evolved massively since those times.”

He pointed to cases where scores of suspected modern slavery victims had been safeguarded and work had been done with communities from across eastern Europe, including Romania.

The National Crime Agency was approached for a comment, but did not respond.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are committed to keeping dangerous international wanted persons and fugitives out of the UK and detaining and removing them if they do cross our borders.

"We work with our international partners to exchange criminal information and this collaboration has led to the prosecution and extradition of many overseas criminals.”