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German drug-trafficking fugitive arrested in Cartagena
The man was part of an international drug trafficking network suspected of smuggling narcotics from Spain
The Guardia Civil has arrested two fugitives wanted by German authorities, one of them at a residence in Cartagena, over their alleged involvement in an active international drug trafficking network. One of the men had been tracked down to Alicante and the other to Tenerife before their eventual capture.
The investigation that led to the arrests began in June 2025, run by the Organised Crime and Anti-Drug Team (EDOA) of the Alicante Guardia Civil Command, which was tasked with finding out where the two men were hiding.
The group they were part of had already been under investigation by Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) since 2021. It wasn't until 2025 that the Guardia Civil's help was requested, after it emerged that two of the main suspects had fled to Spain.
According to the Guardia Civil, the pair were the leader and an accomplice of a criminal network responsible for exporting large quantities of cocaine, amphetamine and marijuana from Spain to Germany. The organisation had been on the BKA's radar since 2021, and several dozen shipments of drugs were intercepted during that time.
The Guardia Civil explained that as pressure on the gang mounted in Germany, the two men fled to Spain in June 2025, prompting German authorities to formally request Spanish assistance.
EDOA officers in Alicante took on the case and managed to trace the leader of the organisation to Alicante, while his collaborator was tracked down in Tenerife. This led to the Canary Islands' own Organised Crime Team being brought in to help with that side of the operation.
Even so, the fugitives kept moving to try to stay one step ahead of the law, which the Guardia Civil said made the arrests difficult to carry out.
After months of surveillance, the man in Tenerife was finally arrested on January 28 this year, while the other was tracked down and arrested at a property in Cartagena months later.
Both suspects, aged 33 and 35 and of German nationality, have been placed at the disposal of the National Court and are now in prison awaiting extradition to Germany.
Image: Archive
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