Man arrested in Fuerteventura wanted for child sexual abuse
A 58-year-old Colombian man has been arrested by Spain’s National Police in Puerto del Rosario, Fuerteventura, following an international arrest warrant issued by Colombian authorities for serious offences involving minors.
The man was wanted for alleged sexual abuse and assault against children in Colombia, crimes that carry a potential prison sentence of up to 22 years.
The warrant was issued through INTERPOL and relayed to Spanish authorities via the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit (UDYCO) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Acting swiftly on the alert, police launched an operation on 31st July and managed to locate the suspect just one day later, on 1st August, in the municipality of Puerto del Rosario, where he had been hiding.
After his arrest, the suspect was sent to the Tahíche Detention Centre in Lanzarote, where he will stay in custody while the legal process for his extradition to Colombia is carried out.
This case is one of several in recent years involving people accused of child abuse using the Canary Islands as a place to hide.
Earlier this year, a Swedish man was arrested in the southern Tenerife town of Palm Mar for distributing large volumes of child sexual abuse material on the Dark Web. Under investigation since 2021, he had shared dozens of files of what police described as “extremely serious” content. His partner was also detained, and both were found to have prior convictions in Sweden and Spain.
Elsewhere in the islands, a man was arrested on La Palma for grooming minors online, using social media platforms, messaging apps, and even a PlayStation console to contact children and solicit explicit images.
There was another operation this year, which led to two arrests in Tenerife and Lanzarote as part of a global crackdown on child pornography across 38 countries. Suspects were found using cryptocurrency to purchase illegal material and had amassed extensive libraries of abusive content.
Thanks to close cooperation between Spanish authorities and international law enforcement agencies, the Canary Islands continue to play a key role in the capture of fugitives wanted for serious crimes.
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