Linea Directa 200 LEFT COL CAR INSURANCE

PROPERTY SEARCH

DomusVi Ciudad de Murcia residential cross content 1200

Date Published: 01/03/2023

ARCHIVED - WATCH: Europol most wanted fugitive arrested in Murcia

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

The Dutch criminal escaped from a psychiatric hospital last year and fled to Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - WATCH: Europol most wanted fugitive arrested in Murcia

After spending almost a year on the run, one of Europol’s Most Wanted fugitives has been tracked down and arrested in Murcia. The Dutch man fled to Spain in June last year after being convicted of two armed robberies, one of which resulted in the violent death of a store clerk.

The investigation began in 2022 when the Dutch branch of the European Network of Fugitive Search Teams (ENFAST) contacted their counterparts in Spain and warned that the highly dangerous criminal was believed to be hiding out there. The authorities considered the man to be extremely high risk and offered 10,000 euros for any clues that would lead to his arrest.

Back in 2015, the wanted man and several accomplices held up two jewellery stores in the Netherlands. They tied up the store clerks and customers and robbed the shops at gunpoint. In one of the assaults, a sales assistant was so badly beaten by the fugitive that he later died from his injuries.

🚩Detenido en #Murcia uno de los #EUMostWanted de @Europol buscado por las autoridades de #Holanda

🔷Escapó de prisión y huyó a #España cuando cumplía condena por dos robos con armas de fuego#ENFAST #EUMostWanted https://t.co/ZVyLlxB43O pic.twitter.com/nSscTUYpjX
— Policía Nacional (@policia) March 1, 2023

The Dutch man was sentenced to five years and six months for his crimes, which he was serving in a psychiatric facility after being diagnosed with a serious mental disorder. Last June, he and another inmate dug a hole in the hospital wall and escaped, fleeing in a waiting vehicle.

One of the prisoners was picked up by police just a week later but the other managed to get out of the country, thus becoming an international fugitive and included in the ENFAST and Europol’s list of Europe’s Most Wanted criminals.

In Spain, an intensive investigation was launched immediately and the search focused on Murcia from the outset. After five months, Spanish police tracked the violent fugitive to a shopping centre in the province. The building was surrounded and eight officers stormed the premises, arresting the wanted man.

Elsewhere, two other fugitives from Europol’s Most Wanted list were collared by police this week. On February 24, Romanian murderer Petrisor Lupu was arrested in the Girona town of Vilifant and just a few days later, officers in Madrid picked up 25-year-old Josip Mihajlović, who is wanted in Croatia for the attempted murder of a taxi driver.

Image: Policia Nacional

Linea Directa Bottom Article M-Z CAR INSURANCE

staff.inc.and

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox

Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)