A fugitive sentenced in absentia to 7 years in prison by the Brussels Court of Appeal for international drug trafficking and membership of an international criminal organization was arrested on April 8 in Bogota, Colombia, as part of a Hackathon operation organized by the Fugitive Active Search Team (FAST) of the Federal Police, said the latter on Saturday in a press release.
The individual had been located in South America, but the investigators could not be certain of the precise location. In-depth research has gradually traced his escape route and his journey. In cooperation with the Colombian police and immigration services, the missing pieces of the puzzle could be found. The fugitive was finally arrested in Bogota, said the federal police. The extradition procedure has been launched.
The FAST Hackathon, which aimed to find 40 criminals on the run, was carried out on March 30. He had already made it possible to get hold of a first fugitive, escaped from a prison in Macedonia, who was hiding in a farm in Sauvenière (province of Namur), as well as a second man, sentenced in correctional in Brussels to 9 years jailed for attempted murder, who was trying to board a flight to Pakistan from a Manchester airport.