A 30-year-old Spaniard with a European arrest warrant (OEDE) for extradition has been apprehended by the National Police in Elche, following a French request over drug trafficking. The suspect is accused of transporting narcotics by automobile from Spain to France, a crime that led to a formal extradition order being issued by French authorities.
The arrest was carried out by officers from the Elche Police Station after they received the OEDE indicating that the individual might be present in Elche. Acting on this information, law enforcement established a substantial security perimeter around a local hotel where the fugitive was believed to be staying, culminating in a controlled arrest without incident near the hotel premises.
According to European judicial sources, the individual faced charges in France for drug trafficking and had been sentenced to a term of three years in prison for offenses committed in France in 2018. The OEDE highlighted that the person had been involved in the transport of illegal substances in a vehicle traveling from Spain to France, an operation in which the suspect allegedly acted alongside another individual.
French police investigations connected the case with at least five registered importation attempts of narcotics into France during the relevant period, with the total quantity reaching around 100 kilograms of cannabis seized in various shipments aboard a car linked to the arrested person. The operational details point to coordinated efforts across border policing to disrupt a drug trafficking network, with the events surrounding this arrest functioning as a key component in the broader investigation.
The individual was detained by teams from the citizen security units of the Elche National Police Station and subsequently transferred to the jurisdiction of the central court. As per the Madrid National Court’s order, the case will proceed through the extradition process, with officials overseeing the legal steps necessary to determine the next disposition of the suspect under the OEDE framework.