CLEVER Brit police officers successfully snared a fugitive who was on the run for seven years using a spoof Valentine’s Day request.
Cops posted a series of romantic messages hoping to catch Callum Gower, 28, and his mum Caroline – both wanted for drugs and firearms charges in South Africa.
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A romantic tongue-in-cheek message was released countrywide, urging people to “reunite” the mum and son duo with the police in exchange for £500.
It read: “All we wanted was to spend some quality time with the people who’ve been trying to avoid us lately.
“Can you play Cupid and help us secure a date with some of the county’s most wanted people? There’s every chance it could be back to our place for coffee!
“We will be appealing for those who have broken our hearts to meet us for the date they owe us.”
But for wanted Gower, his romantic dinner wasn’t a candlelit supper but porridge and water after seven years on the run.
The trick worked and Gower and his mum were nabbed in Cape Town in February last year.
The South African Minister of Justice ordered the extradition of Gower on drug and firearms charges.
He was finally handed over to the Sussex police.
Authorities in South Africa swooped on Gower, living at a posh mansion with his mum, and banged them up in cells.
A court heard that despite having no visible means of support, the alleged drug dealer was renting a luxury 6-bed hideaway on an exclusive estate for £6350-a-month.
Police said he was also driving a £65,000 Land Rover, and tried to justify his wealth as being a cryptocurrency dealer.
Though he could not offer any evidence to back up his claims.
The court heard he was facing seven charges in the UK, including possession of an imitation gun, assault and conspiracy to supply cocaine, MDMA and cannabis.
The runaway pair – dubbed Mommy & Clyde – have been evading the UK police since 2018 after an international arrest warrant was issued to Interpol in 2023.
Cops accuse Gower and his mum of running a chain of drug houses in Hastings, with charges dating back to 2014.
The Chief Crown Prosecutor said a raid on Gower’s home in Sussex found £23,075 in cash and illegal drugs worth £400,000 – including cocaine, cannabis, and ecstasy.
Gower had been charged in the UK with possession of an imitation gun with intent to cause fear of violence, ABH, and conspiracy to supply drugs.
His mother Sevier was charged in the UK with conspiracy to supply cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis.
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But when granted bail, the pair fled the country.
A Sussex Police source said: “Callum ignored our Valentine’s Day request for 7 years but finally decided to rekindle his relationship with us and agreed reluctantly to our date.
“Sadly, there was no romantic four-poster bed when he joined us on Saturday nor a rose on his bed but we do love him and hope we spend a good few years together!”.
“With the eventual capture of Gower it means the Valentine Day campaign in 2018 led to the arrest of every single wanted person targeted so Cupid’s arrow did hit its mark”.
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said: “The fugitive Callum Gower was surrendered to the UK authorities on Friday afternoon.
“He was released first from Pollsmoor Prison where he had been held since February last year and escorted to the airport and handed over to the UK police handcuffed” he said.
Gower arrived at Heathrow Airport early on Saturday morning and was driven to Sussex Police HQ in Lewes.
His mother remains in a South African jail, awaiting extradition.
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