A fugitive from the 'Mara Salvatrucha' arrested in Barajas for a double murder in 2022

Luis F. Durán Madrid

Madrid

Updated Tuesday, March 26, 2024-12:52

The National Police have arrested

a

fugitive

member of the dangerous

'Mara Salvatrucha' at the

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport

for a double murder committed in El Salvador, according to the Madrid Police Headquarters.

The fugitive, a member of a "clique" of the gang that operated from the

Salvadoran municipality of Teotepeque

, had committed the double crime for which 84 years in prison are requested. The police cooperation mechanisms, through the Atenas Network, allowed his arrest at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport when he arrived in Spain from Ecuador.

The

investigation

began when the agents learned, through international police cooperation and the Atenas Network, of the possible arrival in Spain of a fugitive claimed by the Salvadoran authorities.

There was an Interpol

red notice for the fugitive

for his arrest, decreed for the crimes of aggravated homicide and robbery committed in the El Paraíso canton in El Salvador.

Once investigators verified that the fugitive was part of the passenger on a flight from Ecuador that was going to land at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport, a

device was organized for his arrest

that allowed his arrest as soon as he disembarked from the plane.

Double homicide in August 2022

This person, according to the INTERPOL red notice, along with six other members of the aforementioned criminal organization, committed a double homicide in August 2022 in the La Sabana Caserío, in the El Paraíso canton, in Teotepeque.

When the two victims were resting in their homes, they were attacked by seven "gangsters", among whom was the fugitive, who, posing as soldiers, stated that they were looking for weapons. When they did not find any type of weapons, they tied their hands and feet, and then took them to a rural area, where they were murdered with bullets.

Inspired by the

Atenas Point

, a pioneering experience of the National Police, the investigation has been carried out by the Fugitive Location Section with the support of the General Information Commissariat and the Atenas Network.

This Network started with the agreement signed, in the month of November 2023, thanks to the EUROFRONT and FIIAPPP cooperation program, signed between the National Police of Spain and six Latin American countries, including Ecuador, with the aim of strengthening collaboration police in matters of document fraud as a basic tool to respond to the challenges posed by this increasingly interconnected crime.