2 Feb, 2023 @ 15:00
1 min read

Man wanted in connection with Essex drive by shooting arrested trying to enter Morocco from Spain

Nana Oppong

A MAN wanted for questioning over the drive-by murder of a 50-year-old  grandfather in Essex has been arrested trying to enter Morocco from Spain.

Nana Oppong, 42, was wanted as part of an Essex Police investigation into the murder of Robert Powell.

Powell was shot eight times with a 9mm pistol outside a party in Water Lane, Roydon, Harlow, in the early hours of June 13, 2020.

Nana Oppong
Nana Oppong was arrested trying to enter Morocco. Photo: Police handout

Oppong, whose last known address was West Road, Newham, London, was arrested trying to enter Morocco in late September last year.

A police spokesman said: “Because of operational reasons his arrest can only now be divulged.”

As well as featuring on the Most Wanted campaign an Interpol red notice – a worldwide alert – was issued for Oppong and he was arrested using false identity documents as tried to enter Morocco from Spain.

He was stopped by officers from the DGSN – Morocco’s General Directorate for National Security.

Oppong remains in custody as extradition proceedings are underway.

Robert Powell Shooting Victim Family Handout
Victim Robert Powell was shot nine times. Photo: Family handout

Oppong is the seventh fugitive to be arrested from the Most Wanted campaign, which is run in conjunction with independent charity CrimeStoppers, Spanish law enforcement and UK policing.

Steve Reynolds, NCA regional manager in Spain, said: “Oppong’s arrest came about after a sustained campaign to trace him and because of the vigilance of our Moroccan partners and support from Interpol.

“This is another excellent result and shows once again that UK law enforcement does not give up on finding those who await justice in the UK.

“Working with our colleagues at home and abroad we will continue to hunt those on the run.”

Detective Superintendent Stephen Jennings, who has been leading the Essex Police investigation, said: “Numerous officers and staff across all agencies involved in this case have been working day and night to get justice for Robert’s family.

“Oppong’s arrest is the result of an excellent collaboration between Essex Police, the NCA, the CPS, Interpol, Crimestoppers and other law enforcement colleagues around the world, and it doesn’t stop there.

“We all share a common goal – to find anyone suspected of committing crime, no matter where they try to hide.

“Our work continues, and we won’t stop until Nana Oppong is back in the UK and facing the courts.”

Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.

Dilip Kuner

Dilip Kuner is a NCTJ-trained journalist whose first job was on the Folkestone Herald as a trainee in 1988.
He worked up the ladder to be chief reporter and sub editor on the Hastings Observer and later news editor on the Bridlington Free Press.
At the time of the first Gulf War he started working for the Sunday Mirror, covering news stories as diverse as Mick Jagger’s wedding to Jerry Hall (a scoop gleaned at the bar at Heathrow Airport) to massive rent rises at the ‘feudal village’ of Princess Diana’s childhood home of Althorp Park.
In 1994 he decided to move to Spain with his girlfriend (now wife) and brought up three children here.
He initially worked in restaurants with his father, before rejoining the media world in 2013, working in the local press before becoming a copywriter for international firms including Accenture, as well as within a well-known local marketing agency.
He joined the Olive Press as a self-employed journalist during the pandemic lock-down, becoming news editor a few months later.
Since then he has overseen the news desk and production of all six print editions of the Olive Press and had stories published in UK national newspapers and appeared on Sky News.

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