Laurence Dollimore
THIS is the young British expat arrested as part of an anti-terrorism investigation in Spain.
Sasha Brooks, in her 20s, was picked up by Policia Nacional in the small town of Lanjaron, Granada, alongside her boyfriend Naraya Gomez last weekend.
Gomez is accused of facilitating the assassination attempt on far-right politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras in the upmarket barrio of Salamanca in Madrid on November 9.
The founder of the divisive political party Vox was shot in the face as he was walking home, but he miraculously managed to survive the assassination attempt.
Police launched a terrorism probe after the former president of the Partido Popular branch in Catalunya insisted the hit was ordered by the Iranian regime.
The Iranian government had previously declared Vidal-Quadras, 78, a well-known sympathiser of the regime´s opponents, as a ‘terrorist’ in October 2022.
Police sources have said that Gomez is a muslim convert who follows a Shiite belief system led by the ayatollahs of Iran.
His British girlfriend, who has now been named as Sasha, was also arrested at one of two properties they share in the quiet town of Lanjaron.
She is said to be from a ‘good family’ and rents one of the properties with her mother, who have lived in the Alpujarras area for many years.
Police have yet to find any evidence that she was involved in the alleged act of terror, however she is due to appear before a court in Madrid on Saturday.
Locals today told the Olive Press that the quiet town of Lanjaron is ‘in shock’ after hearing of the arrests.
One said: “Sasha Brooks is really quite popular, there’s a lot of rumours going around saying she was desperate for money but that is not true at all.
“She is very vibrant and fashionable, and never in a million years would you associate her with this type of thing.”
Another added: “It’s not a family that needs money, so there’s no financial reason to do something like this.
“The guy (Gomez) is also really lovely, we’ve known him since he was a baby, he was always really polite and there was nothing to suggest he was capable of something like this, we just don’t get it.”
According to police sources quoted by Informacion.es, Gomez and the hitman, a French citizen of Tunisian origin, travelled to Madrid the night before the attack, and stayed in a hotel.
On the day in question, they both travelled to the Salamanca neighbourhood, but only the hitman approached the target’s home on a motorbike.
Gomez was nearby in a car, according to reports.
The killer waited for Vidal-Quadras to arrive back at his home, before approaching him with his helmet still on and firing at his head.
He fled the scene and burnt the motorbike in a nearby village in Fuenlabrada, before Gomez picked him up in his car.
The hitman is still being hunted and is still wanted in France for an alleged murder he carried out in Paris. He is said to have a rap sheet of another 40 alleged crimes.
Policia Nacional are now trying to discover who hired the hit.
Police revealed this week that the mastermind behind the hit paid an unwitting Albanian expat, 22, €500 to buy a BMW motorcycle and place it under his name.
The young bricklayer was then told to update the vehicle’s insurance to avoid any unwanted attention.
He had to travel from Malaga to Madrid to fill out all the necessary paperwork, and was even escorted to the capital by the suspected hired killer,.
There is no suggestion the Albanian man knew what crime was being planned.
READ MORE:
- Was IRAN behind the assassination attempt of politician and founder of far-right Vox party in Spain?
- Spanish politician, 78, who helped found far-right Vox party is SHOT in the head in broad daylight in upmarket neighbourhood in Madrid
- Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson joins far-right Vox leader at anti-Catalan amnesty protests in Madrid
