TWO men from Coventry have been arrested on suspicion of a murder in Belgium earlier this year.
Detectives from West Midlands Police carried out a European Arrest Warrant to arrest the two men aged 24 and 26.
The two were arrested after the warrants were carried out at addresses in Brays Lane and Torcross Avenue in Stoke on Tuesday.
The arrests are part of an investigation by the Belgian Police Service into the murder of a British man at a bed and breakfast on August 26.
The pair were taken to Westminster Magistrates Court from where they will be extradited to Belgium to be formally interviewed about the murder.
Detective Sergeant Nick Barnes, from the force’s Homicide Team, said: “This was a very successful operation between the two police forces from England and Belgium to arrest these individuals.”
Over the past five years, 2,534 convicted and suspected foreign criminals have been arrested and removed from the ten largest urban areas of England and Wales using European Arrest Warrants.
They can only be issued for offences carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months or more in prison. The introduction of the warrant system in 2004 was intended to make the process of extradition as quick and easy as possible throughout the EU countries.
