A BRITISH couple have been arrested at Alicante-Elche airport over the 2024 shooting of a fellow national in the Mar Menor.
The Guardia Civil said they were members of a ‘violent criminal gang’ from the UK who travelled to the Murcia coast to find and kill their target.
The victim, named as Aaron, and aged 27 years in November 2024, was shot four times in the back outside his home in the Santiago de la Ribera area of San Javier.
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Neighbours on Calle Alferez Moreno said that he had ‘problems with a mafia’ and some suggested that he was in hiding.
He spent several months recovering in Murcia’s Virgen de la Arrixaca hospital and has been left with some permanent injuries.
It was feared at the time that he might never be able to walk again.
The detained couple were arrested separately at Alicante-Elche airport.
The Guardia Civil said they had worked with their UK counterparts for some time to exchange information to catch the assailants.
The man was detained by the Guardia at an airport security control in April and had tickets for a flight to Edinburgh.
A fortnight later in May, the second suspect was arrested after she arrived in Spain.
The Guardia Civil’s ‘Operation Esbroya’ remains active.
It was launched after officers recovered four shell casings from the crime scene at Santiago de la Ribera.
An hour later, a burning car was discovered between San Javier and Los Narejos.
The vehicle matched witness descriptions and was later found to have been stolen, with false number plates.
Officers then went to a residential development outside Mazarron, when the next day, they found a high-end UK-registered vehicle.
A search of the car uncovered a gun with a silencer, a loaded magazine, a black balaclava, gloves and clothing matching that were worn by the gunman.
Forensic experts later confirmed that the gun was used in the shooting, while DNA recovered from the balaclava, gloves and other seized clothing helped the Guardia to identify two suspects.
The duo had criminal records in the UK linked to organised crime, violent offences and drug trafficking.
Both face charges for attempted murder and the illegal possession of weapons.
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