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CRIME

Spanish family seeks canonisation of London attack ‘skateboard hero’

Five years after the London Bridge attack that left eight dead, the family of a Spaniard who died defending a woman with his skateboard are seeking his canonisation, his father told AFP Friday.

Ignacio Echeverria's parents
Ignacio Echeverria's parents, pose with a George Medal, which was awarded to their son. Photo: Kirsty O'Connor / POOL / AFP

Ignacio Echeverria, a 39-year-old financial expert from Madrid, was at the scene on June 3rd, 2017 when three men rammed passers-by in a van before going on a stabbing spree in the nearby Borough Market area.

He rushed to help a woman who was being attacked, hitting the assailant with his skateboard but was himself fatally stabbed. Hailing his bravery, the British press named him “the skateboard hero”.

Speaking to AFP by phone, his father Joaquin Echeverria said the family was hoping to have him recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church.

The family was gathering all the information about his case which would be presented to the Church so it could examine whether “to proceed with his possible canonisation”, he said.

The idea was first raised by Madrid’s auxiliary bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino after holding a mass to mark the first anniversary of Echeverria’s death, pointing to the Church’s new stance on canonisation for someone who “voluntarily offers” their life for another.

Although his father knows the process may be very long and that they will also need to show that his son performed a miracle, he believes there’s “a chance they will consider canonising him” because of the “generosity he showed in death” and his “exemplary life”.

He was “a devout person” who actively participated in the Catholic community, made donations and “used to give Catholic education classes at a parish” in London, he said.

“It makes us happy to think that Ignacio’s death made an impact and served some purpose,” he said.

In Spain, Ignacio Echeverria’s bravery has been recognised in several ways with the late banker posthumously awarded the Great Cross of the Order of Civil Merit for “extraordinary services” and several skate parks in Madrid named after him.

And there has even been a “Skate Hero” musical written in his honour tha documents the last 24 hours of his life before the attacks.

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CRIME

Europol bust cocaine gang with arrests in Marbella and Canary Islands

Europol said Thursday that a crime ring smuggling drugs into Europe had collapsed as the result of an investigation involving 40 arrests and the seizure of eight tonnes of cocaine.

Europol bust cocaine gang with arrests in Marbella and Canary Islands

The Hague-based European police force said the entire cartel, whose leaders were based in Turkey and Dubai, had been dealt a major blow after a final set of arrests Wednesday.

The vast three-year-long operation involved police forces from a dozen countries and ranged from Brazil to Spain via Turkey.

According to Europol, the final phase of the operation began with the discovery in August 2023 by the Spanish Guardia Civil of 700 kilos (1,540 pounds)of cocaine in a boat off the Canary Islands, crewed by Croat and Italian citizens.

After exchanging their findings with other police forces, the investigators found links with previous seizures which led to the identification of the masterminds.

In all, 40 people were arrested in six countries, including two top Croat members of the network, who were arrested at the end of 2023 in Istanbul, police said.

The last four arrests took place on Wednesday in Spain, according to Europol.

In one operation witnessed by an AFP journalist, heavily armed members of Spain’s Guardia Civil arrested a 40-year-old man at dawn at his home near Marbella, a seaside resort popular with drug traffickers.

The smugglers shipped cocaine from South America to logistical hubs in west Africa and the Canary Islands.

The drugs were then sent on to centres in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Spain for distribution across Europe.

Many of the drug network’s assets, with a total value of several tens of millions of euros, had been seized or frozen, Europol added.

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