chargement...
Police have finally arrested Moroccan fugitive Yousef Mohamed Lehrech, also known as El Pastilla, in Leipzig, Germany. Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Thursday evening that the 20-year-old, who swiftly escaped his prison cell in the Alcalá Meco prison in Spain on Christmas Eve, was found in a train station in the German city.
Before his arrest, El Pastilla had been tracked for days by the European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams (ENFAST), a network of police officers who can immediately undertake action to locate and arrest fugitives in Europe, Spanish Police said.
During his escape, the Moroccan hitman had been trying to keep a low profile, El Mundo reported, adding that now investigators are trying to determine whether he had any accomplices that helped him escape.
prison break on Christmas' Eve
El Pastilla has become Spain’s most wanted man due to his dangerous precedents. His escape comes after he was arrested in April for the alleged murder of a drug lord in Algeciras, in a score-settling case. Lehrech is also believed to be involved in a second commissioned crime, committed in October 2022.
He escaped prison, back in December, due to at least four security system failures that occurred the night of his prison break. El Pastilla walked through the main gate of the prison without being noticed.
Footage from the prison CCTV show that Lehrech was expected to meet family members. Once in the room meant for family visits, he mingled with people who came to see other inmates and made his way out of prison after finding an unguarded door.
Lehrech had been held in solitary detention for eight months before his prison break due to the charges related to two murders. The first murder was allegedly committed on October 6, 2022, on behalf of Nayim KA, Tayena, a drug lord for whom he used to work.
The second crime of which he is accused allegedly occurred on April 12, 2023. Lehrech is believed to have killed his boss, Tayerna. El Pastilla would have shot his drug dealer boss in the abdomen and walked out of his house in Cadiz.
El Pastilla was arrested the first time in Algeciras while trying to flee to Ceuta. He admitted the crime to the Guardia Civil upon his arrest and said that he had thrown the gun he had used to murder his boss into the sea.
