A FUGITIVE with links to the Italian mafia who was wanted by Belgian and Dutch authorities has been arrested on a Costa Blanca urbanisation.
The man- described as ‘violent and dangerous’ was collared in Rojales where he lived with his family.
Besides two European Arrest Warrants issued for drug trafficking, kidnapping, injury and property offences, the detainee also had four warrants against him by Spanish authorities.
He was part of a criminal organization that operates throughout Europe, linked to the Italian mafia gang, N’Drangueta.
The fugitive had already been sentenced to seven years in prison in 2016 for kidnapping a man in Belgium, which led to European authorities describing him as ‘dangerous’ due to his expertise in handling guns.
Belgian police contacted the Policia Nacional at the start of 2022 with information that he could be in Malaga province, but officers discovered he was not in the area.
In October, Spain hosted the General Assembly of ENFAST (European Network of Active Fugitive Search Teams) and officials from Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands swapped what knowledge they had about the man’s whereabouts.
There was evidence that he kept switching residences in different parts of Spain where he continued to coordinate criminal activities.
A key lead was that he could have been reunited with his family in the Torrevieja area and he was subsequently tracked down and arrested in Rojales.
