Alex Trelinski
POLICE have found the killers of two British tourists who died in November after an inflatable boat used to smuggle drugs and migrants came loose and struck their car on a Mar Menor road.
A joint operation between the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional resulted in 17 arrests on Tuesday including visits to addresses in Elche and Rojales in Alicante province, as well as Molina de Segura in the Murcia region.
Officers detained the group on an array of charges including homicide, causing injury, road safety violations, leaving the scene of an accident, causing damage, drug and people smuggling, the illegal possession of weapons, and document forgery.
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Two cars were seized including the vehicle that was towing the boat on November 16, 2024.
Other items removed included a shotgun, a revolver, ammunition, 15 mobile phones, quantities of cocaine and hashish, and over €3,000 in cash.
The British male victims, aged 49 and 57, died instantly on the RM-12 in the La Manga area when the boat came loose after joining the highway from the Llano del Beal road.
The inflatable caused a 12-vehicle pile up while the SUV fled the scene towards La Manga.
The rental car used by three British friends on a golfing holiday felt the full force of the speedboat.
The one survivor, 51, was admitted in a serious condition to Murcia’s La Arrixaca hospital, with 10 others suffering various injuries as a result of the seven car pile-up.
The 10-metre-long inflatable boat with two 300 horsepower engines was used by a criminal gang to ferry migrants and drugs across the Strait of Gibraltar.
After extensive efforts, investigators identified the make and model of the vehicle that was transporting the boat, in addition to its location and the driver’s identity despite having fake licence plates.
