National Police have arrested three British nationals on the Orihuela Costa in connection with a broad daylight shooting on July 28 at a car park next to a beach bar in Estepona, Malaga, where a 31-year-old man was hit by four bullets and survived the attack.
The operation to clear up this settling of scores involved several house searches at La Zenia on the Orihuela Costa, where investigators seized false documentation, weapons and a small quantity of drugs, according to sources close to the investigation. In addition to the arrests in the Alicante province, further arrests were reportedly made on the Costa del Sol.
Officers deployed from the Costa del Sol, supported by personnel from Alicante, made the arrests last week and placed those involved at the disposal of the duty court in Orihuela. Following judicial appearances, two of them were remanded in custody, while the third was released provisionally pending the continuation of the investigation. Two of the detainees were assisted during the legal proceedings by lawyer Roberto Sánchez Martínez, and one of these investigated individuals was released provisionally after the court appearance.
Those arrested on the Orihuela Costa have been accused of attempted murder, membership of a criminal organisation, drug trafficking, document falsification, vehicle theft and use, and illegal possession of firearms. Police link this foiled crime to a settling of scores related to drug trafficking.
The investigation, which has been declared secret and remains open to fully clarify the case, relates to a shooting that occurred on the afternoon of July 28th in Estepona. The first alerts reached the 112 Andalucia emergency service at about 17:30, when several people reported hearing shots near the Andalucia Beach urbanisation, very close to the Estepona coastline.
The attack took place around a public car park located next to the beach and close to the well-known Sonora Beach establishment. A man with gunshot wounds was located there, receiving initial care from health services before being transferred to the Costa del Sol University Hospital in Marbella.
According to information released in Malaga following the incident, the victim was a 31-year-old Lithuanian citizen. Various sources indicated at the time that he had received several shots, with some reports placing the bullet impacts at four, and that the perpetrators quickly abandoned the scene.
Flight after the shots
The violence of the episode prompted a major police and health mobilisation in an area that is especially busy during the summer months. National Police, Local Police and emergency health services deployed to the scene.
Initial testimonies gathered after the shooting indicated that those responsible had escaped in a dark car. From the early hours, one of the lines of inquiry for investigators was precisely to reconstruct the escape and determine the identity of the people who participated in the events.
The establishment located near the scene of the shooting publicly distanced itself from what happened. Its managers subsequently explained that the shots had occurred in the car park area and that workers merely assisted the injured person until health services arrived.
From then on, the National Police opened an investigation aimed at clarifying the circumstances of the attack, identifying its possible perpetrators and determining the motive, which allegedly related to a drug-related settling of scores.
The inquiries developed during the following weeks eventually led investigators to the Alicante province and specifically to Orihuela Costa, an area with a large foreign population and excellent road links to other points of the Mediterranean coast.
Searches in La Zenia
The police operation deployed just over a week ago included searches in homes located in La Zenia, one of the main residential and tourist hubs of Orihuela Costa.
During the entries and searches, officers located various false documents that must now be analysed within the investigation. Weapons and a small quantity of drugs were also seized, among other items.
The discovery of these effects forms part of the proceedings, and the investigation must determine what relationship, if any, each of them holds with the events that occurred in Estepona. Similarly, police will analyse the seized weapons to check if any could be linked to the shooting.
The intervention culminated in the arrest of three people and their transfer to police facilities to carry out proceedings before passing to judicial disposition.
Once police actions concluded, the three arrestees appeared before the duty court in Orihuela. After studying the proceedings and hearing the parties, the remand in custody of two of them was agreed, while the third remained in a provisional freedom situation.
Two of the arrestees had the legal assistance of lawyer Roberto Sánchez Martínez during their provision to judicial disposition. One of these two investigated individuals left the courts in provisional freedom after appearing before the duty judge.
At the moment, not all details of the conducted proceedings have transpired, nor the degree of participation that investigators individually attribute to each of the detainees. The investigation must now specify the role each person allegedly played and determine if more people were involved in the events.
The Estepona attack caused considerable alarm on July 28th because it happened in broad daylight and during the peak tourist season at a spot next to the beach.
The case, which has been declared secret, remains open and further arrests are not ruled out. In addition to the three arrests made in Orihuela Costa, police have reportedly already detained more involved individuals on the Costa del Sol.
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