Cristina Hodgson
A FUGITIVE from Leeds wanted by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) for trafficking guns and ammunition has been sent back to the UK and imprisoned after he was arrested in Spain.
Clinton Blakey, 38, was arrested in Marbella on May 17 following a surveillance operation.
Blakey has been on the run for three years, after failing to turn up at Leeds Magistrates’ Court to face the weapons and ammunition charges in 2020.
The British fugitive, allegedly connected to an organised crime group facilitating the movement of firearms and ammunition from Liverpool to Leeds, was arrested in Madrid a year later, in 2021, but fled once again when on bail.
Blakey is also allegedly linked to a Howa bolt-action rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition seized at a house in Leeds in 2020.
As part of Operation Venetic, NCA investigators in collaboration with Spanish police, were able to trace Blakey once again.
Following an intense period of research and surveillance Blakey was detained in a vehicle in Marbella, immediately put into custody and transported back to the UK.
In addition to the firearms and ammunition charges, the British fugitive has also been charged with conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs.
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