One of the Chilean prisoners who fled the Caxias prison near Lisbon and were captured in Madrid was released because the Spanish authorities did not receive the European arrest warrant in time. The other Chilean was not only released by the Spanish police, because, after being identified, the authorities realised that he was wanted in Spain for crimes committed in this country.
The two 29-year-old and 30-year-old Chilean inmates who escaped from Caxias prison on 18th February were detained at Madrid airport on the same day with fake passports.
A source linked to the case explained to Lusa that a delay in the sending and reception in Spain of the European arrest warrant (MDE) allowed one of the escaped Chileans to be released, a fact to which also contributes no vacancy in the Spanish detention center.
The same source admitted that there was a “delay” in sending the MDE, because otherwise the two Chileans were immediately detained. It remained to explain why one of the Chileans, despite presenting a false passport, was eventually released for lack of space in the local detention center.
The ministers of Internal Affairs and Justice confirmed Monday the arrest in Madrid of one of three prisoners evicted from the prison in Caxias, adding that the detainee, a Chilean national, “is in the custody of the Spanish authorities.”
“As soon as the three detainees were identified, the Portuguese authorities exchanged the necessary information not only with each other, but also within the framework of international police cooperation mechanisms, and actions were still ongoing in judicial cooperation International level, “the statement said.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed to Diario de Noticais on 19th feb that two arrest warrants were issued and referred any further doubts to the statement from the Ministries of Internal Administration and Justice.
The Attorney General’s Office, in turn, told the DN that “all the procedures provided by law, including the issuance of the respective arrest warrants, have been followed.”
The two Chileans fled early on 18th Feb in the morning from the cell where they were detained, along with a Luso-Israeli prisoner. The three men, awaiting trial in pre-trial detention, fled after having strapped the bars of the cell with metal wire and cut the fence of the prison. Source Diario de Noticais