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TERRORISM

Spanish police detain man suspected of role in Brussels terror attack

Spanish police said Friday that they had arrested a man suspected of having links with an Islamist gunman who killed two Swedish football fans in Brussels this month.

Published: 27 October 2023 15:18 CEST
Spanish police detain man suspected of role in Brussels terror attack
Spanish police said they opened their investigation into the suspect arrested in Benahavís after being informed by Belgian authorities that he might have had links to Lassoued. Photo: Policía Nacional/Twitter

Officers arrested the unidentified suspect — who is wanted in Belgium for drug and arms trafficking, money laundering and membership in a criminal group — in the southern town of Benahavís, an operation carried out with the help of Spanish intelligence agency CNI, police said in a statement.

A radicalised 45-year-old Tunisian, Abdesalem Lassoued, shot and killed the Swedish fans before a Belgium-Sweden football match on October 16th, and was later killed in a police operation.

Lassoued had escaped from a Tunisian prison where he was serving a long sentence, but Belgian authorities failed to deal with an August 2022 extradition request made by Tunisian officials.

Spanish police said they opened their investigation into the suspect arrested in Benahavís after being informed by Belgian authorities that he might have had links to Lassoued.

“The investigation determined that both were linked around criminal activities related with organised crime,” the statement said.

Police searched the home of the suspect, seizing documents, electronic devices and  a “significant amount of money”.

The suspect was carrying fake identity documents at the time of his arrest, police added.

French police have arrested four people as part of the investigation into Lassoued’s possible accomplices.

Police in Belgium have arrested and charged a 44-year-old Tunisian man suspected of being an accomplice to Lassoued.

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CRIME

Dutch gang leader vanishes in Spain after accidental release

A top drug trafficker is on the run after accidentally being bailed from jail in Spain, officials said Tuesday, dodging a bid to extradite him to the Netherlands where his Mocro Maffia gang is based.

Published: 24 April 2024 09:23 CEST
Dutch gang leader vanishes in Spain after accidental release

Karim Bouyakhrichan was arrested in January in Marbella, an upmarket tourist resort on Spain’s southern coast, along with five other members of the Mocro Maffia gang.

They are suspected of having bought 172 properties in Spain worth over €50 million ($53.5 million) to launder their gains from drug trafficking.

But the following month a court in the southern city of Málaga decided to grant him provisional release with judicial supervision, against the wishes of public prosecutors and the Spanish government. Judicial sources said Tuesday his whereabouts are now unknown.

“It is worrying news,” Justice Félix Bolaños told a news conference following a weekly cabinet meeting when asked about the case.

“I can’t comment on any court decisions, but I do trust that the state security forces will bring this person to justice as soon as possible,” he added.

The Málaga court said in its ruling granting Bouyakhrichan provisional release that the risk that he would flee could be avoided “with other less burdensome security measures” than pre-trial detention.

It imposed bail of €50,000, took away his passport and ordered him to report to the authorities twice a month.

Dutch extradition bid

At the same time Spain’s top criminal court was processing a request for Bouyakhrichan’s extradition to the Netherlands, where he is wanted for large-scale drug trafficking.

But it postponed its extradition proceedings because the Málaga court intended to put Bouyakhrichan on trial first for money laundering, court sources told AFP.

When the Netherlands provided more information to back its extradition request, the top court summoned him to testify and when he failed to appear a fresh warrant for his arrest was issued.

Vincent Veenman, a spokesman at the Dutch public prosecutor’s office in The Hague, said it was “unknown” to them why Bouyakhrichan had not been detained for extradition.

“We are currently awaiting a decision on the extradition request,” he added.

“Our experience with the Spanish justice system is that this cooperation is generally good. Dozens of suspects are handed over every year.”

Bouyakhrichan’s brother Samir, another leading member of the Mocro Maffia, was murdered in 2014 near Marbella, sparking a reorganisation of organised crime groups in the region.

The Mocro Maffia made international headlines in 2022 after it emerged that Dutch Crown Princess Amalia had been placed under heavy protection in response to fears of an attack by the group.

Dutch media reported earlier last week that the 20-year-old heir to the Dutch throne studied in Madrid after being forced to ditch plans to live in student accommodation in Amsterdam because of the threats.

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