Suspects told 'borders hold no barriers' as 361 held in foreign criminals blitz

A multi-national police operation has led to the arrests of 361 people in a national crackdown on suspected foreign criminals.

West Midlands Police said it had detained 83 people, including two Poles wanted by detectives in their own country on suspicion of separate frauds and a Czech man implicated in a burglary back in his homeland.

All three were arrested under outstanding European Arrest Warrants and are to be deported to face charges in their own countries.

As part of Operation Trivium, which took place earlier this month, West Midlands officers worked from a Birmingham-based headquarters alongside Romanian, Dutch, and Lithuanian counterparts.

Of those people detained in the region, 76 were foreign nationals.

The regional operation was part of a UK-wide crackdown, also involving the National Crime Agency, immigration officials and Europol, with more than 350 people arrested and 509 vehicles seized.

Chief Inspector Jed White, of the West Midlands' central motorway police group, said: "The number of arrests should send out a strong message that there is no hiding place for criminals and that borders hold no barriers when it comes to bringing about justice.

"Police forces the length and breadth of the country united behind the campaign but there was a real intensity of effort in the West Midlands where a large proportion of the arrests and proactive vehicle stops took place."

He added: "West Midlands Police officers executed several European Arrest Warrants on behalf of police counterparts on the continent - those people arrested have now either been extradited or are awaiting deportation to face justice at home."