Since his daring escape on December 23rd in the tumult of visitors from the Alcalá Meco prison (Madrid), Yousef Lehrech, popularly known as El Pastilla, became the main target of the group of fugitives of the National Police. According to investigators, the young and suspected 21-year-old contract killer, who is being investigated for two murders, had “at least three opportunities” to continue his improvised escape, taking advantage of a possible error in the control of the prison. which is currently being deleted. from the General Directorate of Penitentiary Institutions under the Ministry of the Interior. According to investigative sources, El Pastilla was arrested this Thursday at the Leipzig train station (Germany) during a routine ID check by German security forces. Some “anonymous” information had reached German police weeks after he fled from visitors to a mosque in Cologne, claiming that El Pastilla had visited that temple. The first two options that investigators considered after his escape were that he try to reach Morocco, his family's country of origin, or that he return to his hometown of Ceuta, “where he knew how to hide,” explain the agents present are responsible for the operation.
The agents of the Drugs and Organized Crime Unit (UDYCO) of Ceuta and Algeciras and the Special Organized Crime Task Force (GRECO) in Cadiz, for whom El Pastilla was an old acquaintance despite his youth, are extremely vigilant. in their neighborhood and controlled the movements of “their people.” They all “knew the entire life and wonders” of the young assassin, in addition to his crimes and his whims. They soon came to the conclusion that they would not defect to Morocco because it was ruled by the Tayena, the group that competed for control of the drug trade in Ceuta with the Piolín organization, for which El Pastilla had allegedly worked as a contract killer. The police accuse him of being the material murderer of Nayim KA, alias Tayena, leader of this criminal gang, whom he allegedly executed with a shot in the chest as he left his home in Los Barrios (Cádiz) on April 12. “Going to Morocco was not an option for him; he was threatened with death there,” argue the investigators.
He is also accused of a second murder of a young man whom he allegedly confused with another person from the rival gang. Police arrested him for both crimes at the port of Algeciras at the end of May last year. He was taken to Cadiz prison but was placed at level five in the prisoner's file due to “his high level of conflict.” of Special Surveillance (FIES) and transferred to the Alcalá Meco prison, where he had barely arrived when he escaped.
The surveillance and investigations in Ceuta and Algeciras by the police, who knew that El Pastilla was a type of criminal “made on the streets and in the open, capable of being locked up for days to get bread and water After a few years, they bore fruit, and they opened a new possible line of investigation: “He could have fled to the south of France, where he had family and friends.”
In parallel, the agents of the central refugee group included Yousef Lehrech in the European network of active search teams for refugees ENFAST, where agents work around the clock specifically to search for refugees from the justice system in Europe. In addition, they appealed for the cooperation of citizens and distributed various photos of the refugee with strong facial features in case someone saw him somewhere.
“All kinds of information began to arrive,” the researchers recall. “They had seen him in the supermarket, in squares, at bus and train stations…” they say. Until they found a French clue that they could fit in Montpellier. However, after they alerted their French colleagues, this trail was lost.
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Life in Cologne
It was only a few weeks later that the German police received “anonymous” information that El Pastilla frequently visited a mosque in Cologne. So began the surveillance of the area by German agents, who managed to locate him in the apartment of a Moroccan family in the city and capture him, hiding under a hood, with his head bowed looking at his cell phone and with security cameras in his Vicinity. Muslim temple.
This image, released after his capture by police, was sent to the Spanish Scientific Police, which analyzed it using facial recognition systems and confirmed that it was him. However, according to the investigation, surveillance of the apartment where he was allegedly found was unsuccessful.
When it looked as if “the target person” had moved again and lost sight of him again, the luck factor came into play: “Some Leipzig Citizen Protection officers stopped him during a routine ID check at the train station.” The train and the alarm went off , which was later confirmed with his fingerprint,” say the investigators, who are currently unable to decipher what steps he took to get to the German city from Madrid.
With a European arrest warrant in force, El Pastilla is expected to be extradited to Spain and returned to prison in the next ten days. However, it remains to be seen in which case.
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