2 local men aged 24 and 22 have been arrested in La Linea by officers of Spain’s Cuerpo Nacional de Policia, on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant issued in Gibraltar.

The arrests are in connection with a Royal Gibraltar Police investigation into a serious assault that took place in Gibraltar on the 30th August 2017. 22 year old Christopher Nuñez of Barham House, Varyl Begg Estate, was last week sentenced at the Supreme Court to 7 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to cause Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent (reduced to 4 years and 6 months on account of his early guilty plea).

The two men sought in connection with this case were known to have fled the jurisdiction immediately following the incident, however, the RGP investigation identified these individuals, with detectives later receiving information regarding both subjects’ whereabouts in the city of La Linea. This information was shared with Spanish Police counterparts, with whom RGP officers have maintained regular liaison, whilst simultaneously a European Arrest Warrant was sought, processed and issued through recognised channels to the competent authorised authority in Spain.

In January 2018, RGP investigators received a Missing Person report concerning a 16yr old local female juvenile (now aged 17), who investigators established was in a relationship with one of the 2 men sought and suspected to be residing with him in La Linea. This information too was also shared with Spanish authorities.

In mid-February 2018, RGP investigators were informed that Spanish Police, acting on the information shared by RGP and on the strength of the EAW, had arrested both individuals in La Linea. The missing female juvenile was located with them. Official confirmation of the arrests and the associated extradition hearing (which is currently before the courts in Madrid), was received on Friday 23rd February.

Commenting on the case, a Senior police spokesman has highlighted that, as with previous cases of a similar nature, RGP detectives had persevered with their enquiries for several months and liased regularly with their counterparts in Spain. The spokesman added that this case evidences the importance of cross-border police cooperation, as well as the effectiveness of the European Arrest Warrant as a valuable tool with which to combat serious criminality and deny sanctuary to those seeking to evade prosecution by crossing European borders.