The Guardia Civil, in collaboration with the European Police Office (Europol) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom, and as part of Operation Van Ibiza, has arrested five people for the assault on a police van in October 2023 in which a prisoner was freed. According to a statement issued by the Guardia Civil on Thursday, the investigation began following the assault, which took place in 2023 on a busy public road in Ibiza in the morning.
The assailants threatened the officers who were guarding a prisoner with firearms as he was getting out of a van to be treated at a dental clinic in the centre of Ibiza. The perpetrators were wearing bulletproof vests and used a motorcycle and a high-end vehicle stolen in the United Kingdom with false number plates, which they later set on fire. Although the assailants initially managed to free the prisoner, he was arrested hours later by the Guardia Civil.
Following the incident, an investigation was launched to locate those responsible, involving Guardia Civil officers from the Property Crime Team and the Ibiza Territorial Judicial Police Team, with the collaboration of Europol and the British NCA. As the investigation progressed, it became clear that this was a highly planned operation with a very sophisticated network, whose objective was to free a British prisoner who was serving a sentence in the Ibiza prison for international drug trafficking and money laundering offences.
Furthermore, it was confirmed that this was a criminal organisation of English origin, of great interest to international police forces, which was sustained by drug trafficking and the theft of high-end vehicles at an international level. The individuals who carried out the assault were highly specialised in similar acts. In fact, it was discovered that some of them had criminal records for murder in third countries, as well as arms and drug trafficking.
Following the arrest of the first suspects on the island of Ibiza the day after the robbery, searches were carried out at homes and warehouses used by the perpetrators. This led to the seizure of approximately €80,000 in cash, a vehicle stolen in the United Kingdom with false number plates, a large quantity of narcotic substances, as well as documents and a plan for the robbery.
Evidence and clues were also collected and sent to the Guardia Civil’s Criminal Investigation Service for analysis and referral to other European countries to identify the rest of the attackers. Through police cooperation with Europol and the NCA, all those involved were identified and it was confirmed that they had criminal records and arrest warrants in the United Kingdom.
Three of those under investigation were arrested on the island of Ibiza, another in the United Kingdom by British police (NCA) and the last of the five was arrested thanks to the collaboration of the Portuguese GNR in that country. Those arrested are charged with evading justice, aggravated assault against law enforcement officers, drug trafficking, membership of a criminal organisation, bodily harm and illegal possession of firearms.