Robert Stephen Gerrard

Robert Gerrard hands himself in

A suspected drug trafficker from Liverpool handed himself in yesterday after three years on the run, saying the pressure had become too much.

Robert G., aged 53, made arrangements through his solicitor to meet National Crime Agency officers at Central Park Police Station in Manchester. He was arrested and charged with conspiracy to import cocaine.

The arrest comes after two other fugitives – Matthew S. and Mohammed A. – were captured in Spain as part of the Operation Captura fugitive campaign run by the NCA and Crimestoppers. 

S. was located in Fuengirola last Thursday, the same day his details were released to the public, while Alam was found on Monday in Tenerife.

G. featured in Captura’s sister campaign Operation Return in the Netherlands. The NCA appealed for help to find him following a raid in October 2013 on a Rotterdam café used as a front for a global operations centre for international drug traffickers.

A Café, which could only be entered via a buzzer system and was strictly for known faces, provided a meeting place where criminals negotiated with cartel members and arranged the financing and transportation of drugs.

NCA officers believe G., who could not be located at the time of the raid, used the café as part of a plot to import large quantities of cocaine into the UK.

Greg McKenna, Regional Head of Investigations for the NCA, said: “Robert G. handing himself in shows the impact we are having with our most wanted campaigns. Three arrests in under a week is a tremendous result.

“We don’t know at this stage how long G. has been back in the UK for, but he told our officers that the pressure of being on the run had got too much for him.

“The fugitives on our most wanted list really do have nowhere to hide. I would urge any of the remaining ones to take note – save yourself the trouble and hand yourself in because we will never stop hunting you and you will face justice.”

As part of Operation Return, G. picture appeared in the news both here and overseas. Since the appeal officers from the NCA were pursuing him with the help of the Dutch National Police, following up numerous leads on locations in the Netherlands and the UK where he was thought to be hiding.

Roger Critchell, Director of Operations for Crimestoppers, said: "The fact Robert G. handed himself in to police is again an indication that when the pressure mounts, hiding places become harder to find.

"This is a great result as it follows two fugitive arrests in the last week from our sister campaign targeting those on the run in Spain. These campaigns really do work."

G. appeared at Manchester Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon. He was remanded in custody until his next hearing at Manchester Crown Court on 23 November.