A FUGITIVE who disappeared four years ago when police raided one of the largest skunk cannabis farms in Britain has been arrested in Spain.

In 2000, detectives from the National Crime Squad raided the farm whose drugs were destined for the streets of York, Selby and major cities across the UK.

Police launched a manhunt for Michael Walsh after he failed to appear at court to face charges relating to the production, possession and supply of cannabis.

In 2000, when officers swooped on a hangar at a disused airfield in Sands Lane, Breighton, near Selby, they found more than one thousand cannabis plants with a street value of £450,000 and £25,000 worth of hydroponics equipment.

Last year one man was jailed for four years after admitting his part in the running the farm, he was convicted after finally giving himself up after being on the run for four years. Two other men are also serving four-and-a-half year sentences.

Walsh, of Breighton, now 62, is alleged to have financed the commercial operation.

Acting on police intelligence, agents from the Spanish Drugs and Organised Crime Unit (Udyco) swooped in the town of Alhaurn el Grande, near the Costa del Sol.

A source close to the Spanish police investigation said Udyco officers based in nearby Fuengirola tracked Walsh to his remote rural home near Alhaurn on April 14. There they discovered false travel documents, believed to have been used to evade police control points at Mlaga Airport.

Walsh was arrested, and is still being held in custody in Spain.

In 1999 the National Crime Squad launched a six-month undercover investigation into the factory. A squad spokesman said today: "We are now consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service with regards to bringing him back to the UK."

Three gang members involved in the cannabis factory have been sent to prison for their part in the operation.

Stephen Mark Gilpin, formerly of Breighton, also went on the run, but gave himself up at York Police Station in January last year. He was handed a four-year jail sentence for his "manager's role" at the factory.

Gang member John Kelly, formerly of Bridlington, was sentenced to six years, while Andrew Markham, formerly of Brigg, received six-and-a-half years. However, both their sentences were cut to four-and-a-half years at the Appeal Court in London in November 2002.

The court was told that the skunk garden's alleged creator and mastermind was Michael Walsh.

Updated: 10:42 Tuesday, April 26, 2005