The Most Wanted christmas tree around!

It may be the festive season but sadly crime never takes a holiday. So crime-fighting charity have put together their Most Wanted christmas tree, which shows the twelve individuals still wanted under the campaign Operation Captura.

Following the arrest of yet another Most Wanted individual, Dennis O'Brien on 18 December, Crimestoppers have put a festive spin on finding the remaining twelve by showing their faces on what is surely the 'most wanted' Christmas tree this year!

After an intial 50 appeals, only 12 remain, showing the success of the campaign which aims to track down criminals on the run in Spain who are wanted by UK law enforcement.

See if you can identify any of Operation Captura's dirty dozen here.

Another Most Wanted is captured in Spain!

So another one bites the dust as crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers confirm the arrest of another of Britain's most wanted individuals under Operation Captura. As the 38th arrest out of 50 appeals, the operation, which aims to locate wanted fugitives known to be on the run in Spain shows no sign of slowing down.

Dennis Patrick O'Brien was arrested on 18 December in the Costa Del Sol. Identified as one of Britain's most wanted men in December 2007, O'Brien faces prosecution for conspiracy to supply cocaine with a street value of £166 million.

We all know that crime doesn't pay but proof of this old adage came in November this year when the High Court granted SOCA's application to seize O'Brien's assets including a pub and substantial funds from his bank account.

Finding O'Brien wasn't easy to say the least. The hunt for him went all over the globe including Peru, England, the Netherlands, Spain and saw gang members tailed to Hong Kong and Dubai.

Read more about the arrest here

Fake cash funds crime

As the charity Crimestoppers rounds up its national Counterfeiting campaign we leave you with some important information about fake money, one of the strands of the campaign.

First of all you should be aware that street level criminals often use fake notes to buy cheap items in shops so that they get a large amount of change (made up of genuine money) in return.  So if you work in retail or banking it's very important to know the signs of how to spot a fake.

Of course some fake money is easy to miss at a glance, so of course it's important for all consumers to be aware of how to spot fake cash too.  Learn how to spot fake currency at:
fakesfundcrime.org.uk

You can also watch Crimestoppers' video below about fake money and how it can affect you.