A German predator wanted for serious sexual crimes has been arrested at a hippie commune in inland Andalucia.
The fugitive had been convicted for aggravated sexual assault and grievous bodily harm in Germany over a horrifying attack in July 2022.
A court in Varel found him guilty of forcing an adult woman to have sexual relations, restraining her with handcuffs and strangling her, leaving her with serious injuries.
He was sentenced to six years for the attack but fled the country before he was jailed.
The predator was tracked down last month to a hippie commune in a remote wooded area of Granada.
German Fugitive Active Search Teams (FAST) alerted the Policia Nacional’s fugitive-location specialists in the Comisaría General de Policía Judicial.
Investigators focused their enquiries on Granada, where intelligence suggested he was living in a secluded hippie commune reachable only on foot by a single track.
The difficult terrain and the presence of makeshift shelters housing people in unsanitary conditions complicated the search. The suspect was arrested last Tuesday as he left the site.
Operation Peluche: Broader hunt for sexual offenders
The arrest forms part of broader efforts by the Policía Nacional to locate and detain people wanted on international warrants.
Under ‘Operation Peluche’, officers have also recently arrested two other fugitives wanted abroad in the Madrid towns of Fuenlabrada and Aranjuez.
Launched by the Fugitive Location Section, Operation Peluche has been operating for about a year with a specific focus on those accused of serious sexual offences against minors.
To date the operation has led to the capture of 35 suspects.
