Walter Finch
FIVE members of a British mafia outfit have been tracked down and arrested for their role in a broad daylight assault on a police van in Ibiza that freed a British prisoner.
Three suspects were detained in Ibiza, one in the UK by British police, and another in Portugal with assistance from Portuguese authorities.
The original incident saw armed assailants wearing bulletproof vests point their guns at Guardia Civil officers on a busy street in central Ibiza during morning hours while they were escorting a British prisoner to a dental appointment.
The prisoner, who was serving time at Ibiza prison for international drug trafficking and money laundering, was busted out and escaped with the gang.
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His freedom wasn’t to last long, however. Spanish police tracked him down and recaptured just hours later.
The attackers used firearms and arrived on a motorcycle and in a high-end vehicle stolen from the UK with false number plates, which they later set on fire to destroy evidence.
The lengthy international investigation that followed has now resulted in arrests across three countries.
All five face charges including aiding prison escape, aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, drug trafficking, membership of a criminal organisation, causing injury and illegal firearms possession.
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The investigation revealed the 2023 assault was meticulously planned by a highly specialised UK criminal network deeply involved in drug trafficking and stealing luxury cars.
Some of the perpetrators had previous convictions for murder in other countries, as well as weapons and drug trafficking.
Initial searches immediately after the breakout yielded approximately €80,000 in cash, another stolen vehicle from the UK with false plates, large quantities of drugs, and documents including plans for the assault.
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