A Hungarian man convicted of sexually assaulting a minor has been apprehended in Tenerife, Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation announced on Tuesday via police.hu. The Hungarian criminal was one of the top most wanted criminals in the European Union.

According to the statement, the 37-year-old suspect came to the attention of investigators in April and was swiftly placed on the police’s most-wanted list. The Budapest Metropolitan Court had issued national, European and international arrest warrants after the man failed to begin serving his final eight-year prison sentence for multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault against a minor.

Authorities added that the man had effectively vanished in 2023 and could not be traced. They noted that individuals guilty of such depraved offences rarely appear on Europol’s “EU Most Wanted” platform; however, following the publication of his details, investigators received several tip-offs regarding his whereabouts within a short period.

As the information aligned closely with intelligence already gathered, Hungarian officers liaised with their Spanish counterparts through the European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams (ENFAST). Given the severity of the crime, the Spanish unit acted immediately, and within a day of contact, arrested the man in a coordinated international operation in Los Abrigos, southern Tenerife. A Spanish court will decide on his extradition, the statement added.

Check out the video police shared about the arrest:

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