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He was not deprived of any luxury and high-end cars were his weakness. At first glance it does not seem like the most appropriate way to go unnoticed, but when you are a fugitive and you hide in one of the richest areas of Marbella ( Malaga ), perhaps it is the best way not to attract attention.

Juan Manuel Candela Sapieha , alias El Sapo , one of the most important thieves in this country, executor of the spectacular theft of works of art from Esther Koplowitz, has been arrested on the Costa del Sol for a scam of a million dollars in an operation of buying and selling gold in Kenya. One more notch in a criminal history in which he combines white-glove crimes with violent ones.

As EL MUNDO has learned from sources close to the case, El Sapo had settled in the El embrujo de Banús complex in the town of Marbella, where a two-bedroom apartment can cost more than 800,000 euros.

In the so-called jewel of the Costa del Sol, he had a high train of life and used to travel in very expensive cars.

Considered an "expert in concealment," when necessary, he disguised himself so as not to be identified and, if necessary, displayed plaques and emblems of the security forces to pose as an agent.

On this occasion, he had adopted a false identity, and for those who treated him in recent times was the French citizen Jean Emmanuel Marlon . An alibi that he sterilely tried to hold when he was arrested.

His arrest occurred on the 16th in the vicinity of his home when he was walking his dog. He did not resist and was even forthcoming. "He said that he had his residence in Kenya and that he had not been able to return due to the border closure decreed by the coronavirus pandemic," sources familiar with the case said.

The Kenyan authorities, precisely, were the ones who sent Interpol the arrest warrant by linking it to a scam of more than a million dollars in the framework of negotiations for the sale of gold.

The National Court will decide whether to accept your shipment to Kenya, since Spain, as a general rule, does not usually extradite its nationals.

Although he is a brave criminal, and that his capture "looked bad", the agents of the Fugitive Tracking Groups of the Central Udyco and Costa del Sol managed to locate him in no more than three weeks since they received the arrest warrant, which forged even despite the fact that he constantly changed his place of residence - his movements had been detected in several Spanish cities - and that he was hiding in other countries - he is known to have been in Dubai. The aforementioned sources indicate that it was made available to the Central Investigating Court number 2.

Long history

El Sapo accumulates a long list of antecedents and for many years he has been one of the most wanted criminals by the Spanish authorities.

Outstanding member of the Ángel Suárez Flores team , Cásper , considered the best butronero in Spain, in 2001 Esther Koplowitz stole almost twenty paintings - from Goya , Gris , Sorolla ... - valued at 300 million euros. Without a doubt, one of the most mediatic blows in the country's recent police report.

For these facts, he was sentenced to six years in prison and during that period of imprisonment he wrote Amor al Arte , a book in which he explained when the robbery was planned, how it was carried out, who intervened and what was the fate of the loot.

Considered Cásper's lieutenant , in 2011 both were arrested - along with 20 other people - in Majadahonda (Madrid) accused of the crimes of drug trafficking, kidnapping, injuries, robbery with violence, amputation of members, extortion, coercion, illicit possession of arms, burglary, illegal association and money laundering.

A year later, he was arrested again in Ibiza, with five collaborators and nine alleged drug traffickers , for allegedly threatening and torturing traffickers to steal the drugs.

One of the last sonar captures by Juan Manuel Candela Sapieha occurred in late 2014 and also had the art world as context. The target was an auction firm located in the Chamberí district, where it allegedly attempted to steal several high-value canvases.

As this newspaper published at the time, this well-known criminal was intercepted by the National Police when he tried to flee the art room with seven screwdrivers, a wig, a mask, gloves, a cap and a frequency inhibitor.

Fugitives with blood on their hands

He is not the only fugitive detained by these specialized agents in the province of Malaga. The National Police arrested a Swedish subject wanted in his home country in the Malaga capital, allegedly involved in a murder.

According to his country's authorities, he allegedly prepared and carried out a knife crime that was perpetrated two years ago and for which he received a large amount of money.

On the 16th, he was detained in the vicinity of his home and has already been placed at the disposal of the Judicial Authority.

The last arrest was carried out three days later in a luxurious urbanization in Marbella, where the agents had located a wanted Lithuanian citizen in his country of origin as the alleged leader of a criminal organization whose criminal activities lasted from 2007 to 2019.

During this period, the group was involved in drug trafficking, illegal firearms smuggling, money laundering and murder.

Once in Spain, the detainee allegedly organized a drug trafficking network with connections to South America and Africa whose purpose was to introduce caches in Europe.

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