Two fugitives wanted in Spain for human trafficking have been arrested in the Algarve, Portugal’s PJ police confirmed this week.
The pair – a 44-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman – had reportedly fled across the border after becoming suspects in a Spanish investigation into female prostitution networks, according to Correio da Manhã tabloid. They had been living under the radar in Boliqueime, a quiet town near Loulé.
The arrests were made in close cooperation with Spain’s Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia Police) and the Guardia Civil, under European arrest warrants and a European Investigation Order issued by the Spanish authorities.
While Portuguese detectives carried out searches in the Algarve, Spanish police simultaneously carried out raids in Lleida, Navarra, and Gipuzkoa, where a third suspect was also detained for alleged involvement in the same human-trafficking network.
According to PJ, the Boliqueime searches turned up evidence linked to the trafficking case, along with cannabis plants which were being grown and a large number of illegal-calibre firearm rounds.
Both fugitives are now in custody and are due to appear before the Évora Court of Appeal, which will decide whether they are extradited to Spain to face prosecution.
