The officer leading a police operation set up to catch 16 dangerous foreign criminals, including five feared to be living in west London, has warned they could be interacting every day with unsuspecting members of the public.
Detective Sergeant Peter Rance, who is heading Operation Sunfire, warned that the men - including a suspected sex trafficker of young girls and a convicted violent rapist - could be living normal lives under aliases.
Speaking to getwestlondon on Wednesday (March 4), he said: “This could be someone that you see down your pub. You might walk your dog and see this person and not even realise it. You could be buying a loaf of bread and a pint of milk and this person could be coming into your shop every morning.”
Police have issued photographs of the men, including five with collective links to Brent, Hounslow, Ealing, Harrow and Wembley.
Officers are appealing for the public's help to trace the criminals and bring them before the courts, but have warned anyone who sees them to dial 999 rather than approach them.
DS Rance, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “In each of these cases, the person that's wanted is wanted for an offence where someone's been harmed, whether they've been murdered, whether it be a rape, whether it be grievous bodily harm, whether it be human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation – they're either accused of hurting someone or they're convicted of hurting someone.
“Is it someone you've seen? Is it someone you think looks like this person? Because some of the pictures are from a few years ago and appearances can change.”
He added: “I'm not asking anybody to get actively involved in approaching these people. I'm asking for the information so that we can follow it up and make the arrests if we believe it to be justified.”
Once the police locate the suspects, they will use evidence such as fingerprints to bring them before Westminster Magistrates' Court, where cases involving European Search Warrants are heard, to decide whether defendants should be extradited.
Nearly 800 murderers and 600 rapists are among some 11,700 foreign offenders living in the UK, according to figures released by the Home Office in December last year.
DS Rance urged the public not to make generalisations about foreign nationals and offered reassurance that his team was doing everything possible to find those who are wanted for crimes.
He said: “We're working day-in day-out, 24 hours a day. We've got people working throughout the night. Our office covers all day, all year. And if we get information in, the public can be assured that we'll be following it up and we'll be seeking to locate, identify, arrest and put the people before the courts.”
Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
The Met initially appealed to trace 17 men but one was arrested at around 1pm on Wednesday in Waltham Forest.
