Morocco Intelligence Leads to Arrest of Salé Family Massacre Suspect in Spain

On the run for two months, the alleged perpetrator of the massacre of a family in Salé was apprehended in Spain. Last Sunday, the Spanish police announced that the fugitive was arrested on April 23 in Castellón, in the Valencia region, on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by the Moroccan authorities.

A dispute over a land inheritance pitted the fugitive, a man residing in Castellón since 2002, against his brother. On the eve of the crime, he had contacted him. The exchanges were far from fraternal. Threats had been made. This phone call allowed the Moroccan services to identify the alleged author of the Salé massacre, according to Al Akhbar. They then provided information to their Spanish counterparts. An international search warrant had been issued against him.

"The investigation began just a week ago, when the Moroccan authorities informed the specialized agents in the location of fugitives of the National Police of the possible presence in Spain of the alleged perpetrator of the murder committed in Morocco," the Spanish police said on their official website. Subsequently, a technical surveillance and control system allowed the Spanish investigators to apprehend this Moroccan in his fifties, who was about to leave his home.

On February 6, the lifeless bodies of a father, a mother, and four of their children were discovered in a house in the Errahma district of Salé. The preliminary investigation revealed that the alleged murderer had committed the crime using a bladed weapon.