Former security guard linked to 1993 theft in Suffolk may have been living in Ozark mountains under assumed name

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

A British man who has been on the run for 19 years after a £1m raid on a security van has been arrested in the US.

Eddie Maher, known as "Fast Eddie", who lived in Chelmsford, Essex, was arrested in Ozark, Missouri.

Maher vanished after a theft from a Securicor van in Felixstowe, Suffolk, in 1993. It is thought a colleague made a delivery to Lloyds Bank in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, while Maher waited outside in the vehicle. The van was driven off and was later found empty on the seafront.

A spokesman for Suffolk police said: "We are liaising with the US authorities regarding the detention of Eddie Maher, who police wish to speak to in connection with a security van robbery in Felixstowe in 1993."

Maher, 56, is understood to have been working in the Ozark area for a cable company under a false name at the time of his arrest.

Suffolk police believe 50 bags, containing £1m in coins, £20 and £10 notes, had been transferred from the van into a Toyota Previa Space Cruiser vehicle with false number plates, stolen earlier in London.

The Toyota was then driven to a car park on the nearby Landguard peninsula. It is believed the money was transferred again into a car later found burnt out in Essex.

A US immigration and customs spokesman confirmed Maher had been arrested on immigration charges.

FBI representative Bridgette Patton told CNN: "We were led to believe that the individual in question could possibly be Eddie Maher, a fugitive from the United Kingdom."