The National Police have arrested a 34 year old Irish fugitive (GH) in Salou (Tarragona), who had previously escaped from their custody at Malaga Airport.
He was picked up under a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Irish authorities for dealing in illicit arms and drug trafficking. GOES agents stormed a hotel room where he had booked in with a false identity last Saturday evening. The fugitive is also a suspect in the 2010 murder of gang boss Eamon ‘The Don’ Dunne, but cannot be named for legal reasons
Investigations were initially focussed on the province of Malaga where the fugitive is said to have had links with the Kinahan family, a criminal gang of Irish origin with a presence on the Costa del Sol.
A surveillance team recognised him on his arrival on Spanish soil where he was in the company of his family at the airport but following his arrest, he overpowered the policemen and fled on foot, crossing several lanes of a motorway before managing to escape.
A Spanish police spokesman, confirming the Costa Dorada hotel arrest and identifying the detainee only by his initials, said: ‘Spanish National Police officers have arrested an Irishman born in 1982, on a European Arrest warrant, at his hotel in Salou near Tarragona.
‘The warrant was issued by Irish authorities for illegal possession of firearms and drugs offences, relating to a search on the suspect’s vehicle in 2013 in which Garda found two loaded guns and a quantity of cocaine.
The arrest was carried out by Special Operations Group GEO officers based in Catalunya who are often called on to rescue hostages or take out terrorists.
