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Spain ‘love scam’ triple murder suspect probed for killing cellmate

A Pakistani man facing trial in Spain for the murder of three elderly siblings over debts reportedly linked to an online romance scam is suspected of having killed his cellmate, officials said Saturday.

A view taken on December 10, 2008 of the Estremera prison near Madrid
A view taken on December 10, 2008 of the Estremera prison near Madrid, where a Pakistani man facing trial in Spain for a triple murder is suspected of having killed his cellmate. (Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP)

The 42-year-old, identified only as Dilawar, has been held at the Estremera prison outside Madrid since he turned himself into police last month after admitting involvement in the triple murder of the two sisters and their disabled brother in December in the nearby town of Morata de Tajuna.

He is now under investigation for allegedly killing his cellmate at the jail on Thursday, the Madrid region’s top court said in a statement.

“Dilawar, accused of the death of three elderly people in the town of Morata de Tajuna last December, will be investigated in this new case for the alleged commission of a crime of intentional homicide,” it said without providing further details.

Spanish media said the prisoner, a 39-year-old Bulgarian, had suffered several blows and was found dead in the cell he shared with Dilawar.

READ ALSO: Police in Spain make arrest in ‘love scam’ murder of senior siblings

The bodies of the three siblings, who were in their 70s, were found in January after neighbours raised the alarm because they had not seen them for several weeks.

The authorities suspect the siblings were beaten to death with an iron bar and their bodies were then partially burned in December.

Quoting local residents, Spanish media said the tragedy was likely linked to a fake online love affair, with the two sisters embarking on what they thought was a long-distance relationship with two apparent US servicemen.

They were led to believe one serviceman had died and that the other needed money so that he could send them a multi-million-euro inheritance, causing the sisters to rack up huge debts.

Initially they began borrowing money from neighbours.

During that time, Dilawar had reportedly lent the sisters at least 50,000 euros ($55,000), which they had never repaid, prompting his violent attack on one of the sisters. 

He spent several months in jail for hitting one of the sisters over the head with a hammer last year at their house where he was living as a tenant but he was released from prison in September.

 

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CRIME

Spain seizes 1.8 tonnes of Sinaloa Cartel’s crystal meth

Spanish police said Thursday they had seized 1,800 kilos of crystal meth that Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel was trying to sell in Europe, the country's "biggest-ever seizure" of the narcotic.

Spain seizes 1.8 tonnes of Sinaloa Cartel's crystal meth

Police arrested five people during the raid in the eastern Alicante province, one of them a Mexican running the cartel’s Spanish operation, a statement said.

“This is the biggest-ever seizure of crystal meth in Spain and the second largest in Europe,” Antonio Martinez Duarte, head of the police’s drug trafficking and organised crime unit, told reporters.

“Among those arrested is a Mexican citizen linked to the Sinaloa Cartel,” he added.

READ ALSO: What are the penalties for drug possession in Spain?

He did not give his name but indicated the suspect was responsible for receiving the narcotics in Spain then distributing them within Europe.

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of Mexico’s oldest, largest and most violent criminal groups whose influence remains strong despite the arrest of its founder Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman and his son.

Both have been extradited to and jailed in the United States.

During the operation, police also detained three Spaniards and a Romanian, seizing five cars, documents, a weapon and cash.

But police believe it was a one-off trafficking operation and that “Mexican organisations are not permanently based” in Spain, Martinez Duarte said.

“These organisations send a trusted person who carries out the operation in line with their interests” and once that is over, he goes back home, he explained.

The seized narcotics had been due to be shipped to central Europe.

Although Spain is one of the main drug gateways to Europe, seizures of synthetic narcotics are uncommon as most traffickers usually deal in cannabis and cocaine.

READ ALSO: Why is Spain’s Europe’s cocaine gateway?

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