Suspected gang member arrested in routine stop (From Sutton Guardian)

Suspected European criminal gang member arrested in routine Sutton police stop

10:26am Friday 15th June 2012 in News By Matt Watts

A routine roadside check by police in Sutton led to the capture of a Polish man wanted on a European arrest warrant suspected of being part of an organised criminal gang.

Sutton police pulled over a Mercedes Sprinter van in Oldfields Road, Sutton, as part of a crackdown on uninsured drivers on May 29.

Checks found the 37-year-old, Warsaw born driver, Piotr Miroslaw Wieczorek, was wanted on a European arrest warrant by authorities in Poland.

The driver received an on-the-spot fixed penalty notice of £200 for driving with no insurance and his vehicle was seized.

He was taken to Sutton Police Station for questioning and for further enquiries to be carried out.

Officers found that Serious Organised Crime Agency records showed that a warrant had been issued at a regional court in Siedlce, Poland, on 22 November 21, 2011, for the arrest of Wieczorek on suspicion of his being part of an organised criminal gang in Poland which stole and forged the ID marks of 30 vehicles before transporting them for sale elsewhere in eastern Europe.

Mr Wieczorek, of Tide Close, Mitcham, has been electronically-tagged and faces an extradition hearing on July 9.