Revealed: 500 suspects snared in the West Midlands and sent back to Europe
Nearly 500 suspected criminals living in the West Midlands - including alleged killers and fraudsters - have been deported to face charges in other European countries in the last six years, new figures have revealed.
Data released today by the Home Office shows that 495 suspected criminals have been extradited from the region since 2010 using the European Arrest Warrant.
Over the same period 54 suspects were snared in Europe and brought back to the West Midlands - including some of Britain's most-wanted fugitives.
West Midlands Police accounted for the bulk of the arrests, with 323 suspects deported - the second highest figure in the country behind the Met.
The group included Polish national Grzegorz Badura, who was arrested in West Bromwich in November 2015 having been on the run for more than a year. He was sent back to Poland to serve the remainder of a sentence for fraud.
The force extradited 23 suspected crooks back to the UK.
West Mercia Police deported 72 suspects and extradited five back to the UK, while 62 suspects were arrested in Staffordshire, with the county's force extraditing 24.
Warwickshire Police arrested 38 suspected foreign criminals and extradited two over the six year period.
West Midlands Police said today it could not comment on a political issue so close to the EU referendum.
The EU-wide warrant allows police forces across Europe to easily bring suspects who go on the run back to face trial in the UK.
Last summer the force launched a major crackdown on foreign criminals, Operation Trivium, which led to dozens of arrests in the region.
Use of the European Arrest Warrant has been a key part of pro-Europe arguments in the run up to the June 23 EU referendum.
Wolverhampton North East's Europhile Labour MP Emma Reynolds, said: "The European Arrest Warrant has helped local police forces to rapidly take some of the West Midlands' most dangerous criminals off our streets.
"It's clear we are not just better off in Europe , we are safer too."
Former President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, said: "European policing measures mean the long arm of the law now extends right across the continent, leaving no place to hide.
"The European Arrest Warrant also means we can easily deport dangerous criminals back to other countries, keeping our citizens safe.
"Pulling out of the EU would undermine all this cooperation and could put our security at risk."
However Justice Secretary Michael Gove vowed emergency legislation in the event of a Brexit victory to exempt the intelligence agencies from EU law and make it easier to deport EU criminals.
