The National Police has arrested Manuel Bellido Moreno in the San Blas district of Madrid, considered the largest currency counterfeiter in Spain, and one of those included this week in the campaign to apprehend the ten most wanted fugitives in the country.
Thanks to the information from the campaign, a member of the public was able to identify the suspect and indicate his place of residence in Madrid. Some neighbours of the fugitive, claimed by eight courts and with an international extradition order, have tried to prevent his arrest and the agents were forced to take refuge while waiting for reinforcements.
A national police officer assigned to the Mobile Brigade reported that a person had indicated the possible location and address of Manuel Bellido Moreno thanks to the dissemination of the National Police’s most wanted list.
After learning of his alleged whereabouts, a surveillance was established around the home located on Calle de Tapicería de San Blas, and when the fugitive left it, the agents tried to arrest him. However, the police had to take refuge in the building’s portal and wait for the intervention of reinforcements, since residents of the building began to reprimand them and actively tried to prevent the arrest.
Manuel Bellido Moreno was sentenced in a final judgment to a sentence of nine years in prison for the crime of issuing and distributing counterfeit currency. He is considered the largest currency counterfeiter in Spain, and is accused of being a member of a criminal organisation dedicated to counterfeiting high value bills, where Bellido would have as main function the distribution of counterfeit currency throughout Spain during the year 2013. He has 46 years and had easy access to elements to falsify documentation, credit cards and traveller’s checks among others, which makes identification difficult.
This week, the National Police launched a campaign to locate ten fugitives wanted by different national and international courts. Fugitives with different criminal profiles were included in the list of the most wanted, some of them wanted and captured for more than 15 years, and who could be hiding anywhere in the country.
Citizen collaboration can be decisive for their location, which is why a specific email address, losmasbuscados@policia.es, has been set up so that citizens who believe they have any information that could lead to their location can communicate it to the investigators in a confidential manner. In addition, any information can be communicated through the 091 telephone number, or 112 for those who don´t speak Spanish.
