Moment ‘extremely violent’ English fugitive wanted for drug sales in Manchester is arrested in Benidorm hotel in front of screaming Brits

Spanish police have shared dramatic footage of the moment police gunned down an “extremely violent” British fugitive at a Benidorm hotel in front of screaming tourists.

Plainclothes officers picked up Paul Brown and wrestled him to the ground as he left his holiday home for a walk in typical tourist attire: a T-shirt, green shorts and slippers.

Brown has been wanted for selling drugs in Manchester since 2020, with police saying he used encrypted messaging technology to traffic Class A drugs including cocaine and ketamine.

Police tracked him to the Costa Blanca, with footage of his arrest last month showing him being tackled by two officers, before another two joined in as they tried to restrain and handcuff him.

Brown’s shoes came off in the struggle before his slippers were returned to him and he was escorted to a waiting car to be taken to a Benidorm police station for fingerprinting and processing.

A shocked woman can be heard in the background as officers jump on the man

A plainclothes officer tries to restrain the man, who fights as he is arrested

In 2022, a European arrest warrant was issued for the wanted Briton, a 50-year-old from Manchester, two years after an appeal was first launched to track him down.

It is believed Brown is now in jail in Spain awaiting extradition.

In footage of his arrest released today, a shocked woman can be heard shouting ‘what the heck’ in the background.

The female holidaymaker is heard shouting: ‘He ran away, why?’ after appearing to get half an answer from police about what was going on, before a detective said in Spanish to one of the officers, “Tell them why” as the fugitive was led away.

A panicked British pensioner unexpectedly shouted, ‘What’s going on? I am 72 years old.’

Detective Inspector Rick Castley, of Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Organized Crime Group, said after his arrest: ‘Brown is accused of a significant drug supply conspiracy, and our determination to locate him has not wavered over the years.

“I would like to thank our colleagues at the National Crime Agency and Spanish law enforcement for their support in our relentless search for Brown.

In footage of his arrest released today, a shocked woman can be heard screaming in the background and shouting ‘what the heck’

The video clip, shared by Policia Nacional, shows the man being led to a police station by two officers

‘Brown has been excellent for four years now, but we have not forgotten him. Together with specialist resources and our international partners, we will continue to ensure that wanted suspects look over their shoulders for a lifetime.”

A spokesman for Spain’s national police said today: ‘He is believed to have used encrypted communications systems to sell drugs.

‘He had been on the run since 2020 and is believed to have been involved in the distribution of cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines and ketamine in Manchester.’

They added: ‘He faces a possible life sentence in Britain if convicted of the crimes he is accused of.’

Brown’s arrest comes after a series of high-profile drug attacks against British criminals in Spain in recent months.

In February, an ex-pat was arrested after armed police raided his Costa home and found almost £10,000 of cannabis resin.

The raid, one of the ‘largest drug seizures ever’ in Andalusia, took place in La Linea, near Spain’s border with Gibraltar, known as a drugs gateway to Europe.

The large packages of cannabis apparently contained the names of the recipients

Drug traffickers use vessels, including powerful speedboats, to smuggle hashish mainly from Morocco into Spain via La Linea.

It is a popular drop-off point due to its proximity to the African continent.

In January, three British men were arrested on the Costa Blanca after a police chase that led to the seizure of more than ten million pounds of cocaine.

The loot is probably smuggled from Ecuador to Europe.

The trio were apprehended after one of the suspects rammed two police cars during a high-speed chase after the British took charge of a van containing 300kg of the class A drug belonging to two Albanian men who had also been arrested.

Two of the Britons were in the van and a third in a lookout car that drove ahead of them to warn them of police roadblocks and other possible problems.