Police in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district have picked up a 69-year-old British man on a European arrest warrant.

The man has been found guilty of drugs-related crime on several occasions and sentenced to a total of 29 years in jail, police said in a statement. He is now awaiting extradition to Britain.

The man, who was not named, was driving a rental car but refused to stop when ordered to do so by police. Police gave chase and the car was forced to a halt. It is not clear whether the police were involved in routine checks of cars or whether he had been specifically targeted.

A second man sitting in the car jumped into a nearby ditch in an effort to escape capture. Although he was ‘known to police in Liverpool’, he was not on a wanted list and released.

British and Dutch police work closely together in a programme known as ‘Operation Return’ to catch fugitives thought to be hiding out in the Netherlands.

Since it was launched in 2010, 10 out of 14 wanted fugitives have been apprehended and five new faces were added to the list in February.

The agencies are also targeting the facilitators who supply fake identities, as well as the businesses – car rental and housing companies in particular – which accept these identities.

However, none of the nine names on the Dutch list match the man arrested on Friday.