LONDON: One of Britain’s most wanted fugitives, accused of drug offenses, was captured in Spain, authorities said.
Police detained 41-year-old Jamie Acourt as he left a gym in Barcelona on Friday afternoon, Britain’s National Crime Agency said. The joint operation was carried out by the crime agency, London’s Metropolitan Police and Spain’s national police force.
The crime agency said in a statement that Acourt, from south London, “is believed to be involved in the large-scale supply of drugs.”
Ian Cruxton, head of international operations for the NCA, said intelligence work enabled British investigators to “direct the Spanish authorities to his location in Barcelona.”
Cruxton said the fugitive “thought he could evade capture but as a result of an intelligence-led operation his days on the run have ended.”
He said the sharing of information between various police agencies means there is no safe haven for fugitives.
The crime agency added that Acourt was detained on a European arrest warrant at Britain’s request and he will appear at a Madrid court “early next week for an extradition hearing.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said that Acourt’s arrest in Spain stems from a 2016 investigation launched by detectives from the force’s Serious and Organized Crime Command.
Acourt, along with his brother Neil, is a former suspect in the 1993 killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. The two were among five people initially questioned as suspects in the killing.
Jamie Acourt has consistently denied any role in the racially motivated murder of Lawrence, and he was never charged in the case. Two men have since been found guilty of killing Lawrence in one of Britain’s most shocking hate crimes.
UK fugitive captured in Spain in joint operation
UK fugitive captured in Spain in joint operation
- Acourt was detained on a European arrest warrant at Britain’s request and will appear at a Madrid court “early next week for an extradition hearing.”
- Acourt, along with his brother Neil, is a former suspect in the 1993 killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Trump administration labels 3 Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations
- The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization
- “These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence,” Rubio said
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, imposing sanctions on them and their members in a decision that could have implications for US relationships with allies Qatar and Turkiye.
The Treasury and State departments announced the actions Tuesday against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said pose a risk to the United States and American interests.
The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization, the most severe of the labels, which makes it a criminal offense to provide material support to the group. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were listed by Treasury as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to Hamas.
“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were mandated last year under an executive order signed by Trump to determine the most appropriate way to impose sanctions on the groups, which US officials say engage in or support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm the United States and other regions.
Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they renounce violence.
Trump’s executive order had singled out the chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, noting that a wing of the Lebanese chapter had launched rockets on Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that set off the war in Gaza. Leaders of the group in Jordan have provided support to Hamas, the order said.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 but was banned in that country in 2013. Jordan announced a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in April.
Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said some allies of the US, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, would likely be pleased with the designation.
“For other governments where the brotherhood is tolerated, it would be a thorn in bilateral relations,” including in Qatar and Turkiye, he said.
Brown also said a designation on the chapters may have effects on visa and asylum claims for people entering not just the US but also Western European countries and Canada.
“I think this would give immigration officials a stronger basis for suspicion, and it might make courts less likely to question any kind of official action against Brotherhood members who are seeking to stay in this country, seeking political asylum,” he said.
Trump, a Republican, weighed whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2019 during his first term in office. Some prominent Trump supporters, including right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, have pushed his administration to take aggressive action against the group.
Two Republican-led state governments — Florida and Texas — designated the group as a terrorist organization this year.
