Spain´s Most Wanted Apprehended After 8 Years On The Run

Spanish police have detained one of the country´s most wanted criminals in an operation near Barcelona.

The detainee had been on the run since 2012 when he absconded on bail awaiting his trial for the 2002 murder of a shopkeeper during a robbery in Barcelona.

He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in absentia.

During the robbery the victim had been shot in the head with a sawn off shotgun.

The suspect was found in an isolated rural property in the municipality of Castellvi de la Marca near Barcelona this week.

He has been under covert investigation for some months as police closed the ring on the on the run murderer.

Authorities have revealed that the suspect had been living under an assumed name and even his girlfriend was not aware of his real name or his violent past according to a statement issued by the National Police.

The operation involved undercover units of the national police as well as the Catalan Mossos d´Esquadra and involved armed officers in the raid.