Filenews 1 February 2023
Fourteen cases related to the most dangerous wanted persons were investigated between September 2022 and January 2023 by the European Network of Active Search Teams for Wanted Persons ENFAST, with the support of Europol, as part of the 2022 EU Most Wanted information campaign.
In today's announcement, the Police says that the publication of the profiles of the wanted persons on the EU Most Wanted website during the campaign for the year 2022 had a direct role in the investigation of five cases, related to the most dangerous persons.
Their investigation, according to the Police, could not have been possible without both the specialization of the ENFAST network and the scope of Europol's communication campaign, since the two organizations complemented each other in their efforts to identify the most dangerous wanted persons.
The EU Most Wanted campaign had been a major success in the past with a number of anonymous information leading to arrests.
The website was launched in 2016 and since then the profiles of 392 wanted persons have been posted on the website. https://eumostwanted.eu/
Of this number, 136 wanted persons have been arrested, with 49 of these arrests being directly related to the fact that the profiles of the wanted persons had been published on the website.
This year's campaign
This year's campaign focused on highlighting the profiles of wanted persons across Europe who are members of criminal organizations, while noting that the wanted persons included in the campaign are wanted in connection with serious crimes in Europe, such as murders, human trafficking, and armed robberies, among others.
As part of the campaign, ENFAST and Europol informed EU citizens of the EU Most Wanted website so they could see the photos of wanted persons and check if they recognise any of them.
Meanwhile, the campaign was presented on social media, including a call to action, in all EU languages, to reach as wide an audience as possible.
Also, as part of the campaign, murals were unveiled in Brussels and Barcelona to raise awareness of the campaign and generate more media interest.
The graphics for the campaign focused on the idea of a house of cards, since the removal of a key person in the criminal network, after some anonymous information, can bring about the downfall of the entire criminal organization.
According to the Cyprus Police, Cyprus, by assisting in the effort to collect and exchange information to identify the most dangerous wanted persons in Europe, participates in the European Network ENFAST as well as in the annual EU Most Wanted campaigns carried out by the Network in cooperation with Europol.
Among the wanted persons included in the annual campaigns, as well as the permanent website EU Most Wanted, are suspicious persons wanted by the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus.
Responsible for the participation of Cyprus in ENFAST and in its annual European campaign is the Directorate of European Union - International Police Cooperation - WEU-DAS, of the Police Headquarters.
CNA
