On-the-run UK knifeman arrested in Spain after being given away by his love of yoghurt | World | News

A suspected gang member wanted over a brutal London stabbing has been arrested in Spain — after elite police officers tracked him down using his biblical tattoos and unusual habit of regularly buying yoghurt from a neighbourhood supermarket. The 23-year-old, who has not been named, was picked up in Sabadell, a commuter town north of Barcelona, after Spanish police received intelligence linking him to the fatal attack on 21-year-old Giovanny Rendon Bedoya in Walworth, south London, on April 14.

The man — described by Spanish authorities as an alleged member of the violent Dominican-origin Trinitarios gang — was seized near his hideout while wearing a black Tupac Shakur T-shirt. He was photographed being led away in handcuffs by two heavily armed officers following a joint operation involving Spain’s elite fugitive unit and the UK’s National Crime Agency. Police say he was wanted on an international arrest warrant issued by British authorities investigating the deadly stabbing, in which the victim suffered horrific injuries, including the amputation of fingers, multiple fractures, the loss of an organ and a fatal stab wound to the abdomen.

The suspect had reportedly used at least 13 different aliases in an attempt to avoid capture, and had been the subject of a wider search across Spain, with initial efforts focusing on the northern city of Bilbao. However, those enquiries ultimately failed to produce a lead — until investigators received a fresh tipoff linking the fugitive to Sabadell.

One key clue came from a local supermarket near Pi Square, where a man matching the description was seen shopping frequently — and almost always buying yoghurts. That, along with reports of his distinctive tattoos, including a map of the Dominican Republic and a religious inscription in Spanish, enabled officers to zero in on his whereabouts.

According to respected Catalan newspaper El Periódico, the biblical tattoo on one of his arms was from Psalm 91 of the Old Testament and read: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Spanish police said this inking, combined with a vertical tattoo of his country of birth on the other arm, allowed agents to visually identify him before confirming his identity through fingerprints at a police station.

Officers believe he had intended to flee Spain and return to the Dominican Republic, but surveillance teams caught him just in time when they spotted him outside the supermarket on May 19.

Spain’s National Police confirmed the arrest on Monday, saying the man could face a life sentence in the UK if convicted. In a statement, the force said: “National Police officers have arrested an alleged member of the Trinitarios gang in the town of Sabadell in Barcelona who is wanted by the British justice system after allegedly committing a murder in the United Kingdom.

“An international arrest warrant was issued for him after the crime which took place on April 14. He could face a life sentence for attacking, with five other alleged members of the same gang, another young man from a rival gang who was killed.”

The Spanish force said it had launched an investigation after being contacted by British liaison officers. Once intelligence pointed to Barcelona, plainclothes surveillance teams were deployed across the area to track his movements.

A police spokesperson added: “Initial investigations revealed he could be hiding somewhere in the province of Barcelona, and surveillance and tracking was undertaken in the areas he could frequent.

“During one of the surveillance operations, the fugitive was located when he was about to enter a restaurant and identified and arrested.”

It is not yet clear whether the suspect opposes extradition or agrees to be returned to Britain to face trial.

Scotland Yard had previously said the murder of Mr Rendon Bedoya was gang-related. The young man was attacked around 9pm on April 14 in Hillingdon Street and was pronounced dead at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics and police.

Four men have now been charged in connection with the killing: Joseph Jimenez, 21; Angel Gonzales Angulo, 19; Brian Villada-Hernandes, 19; and Zozoro Mohamed Olivier, 20.

A 17-year-old boy was also arrested on suspicion of murder, and others were previously released on bail while enquiries continued.

The Trinitarios gang, originally founded in 1993 by two Dominican inmates in New York’s Rikers Island jail, has expanded across parts of Europe, and is considered one of Spain’s most dangerous criminal organisations.

Law enforcement agencies have blamed the rise in violent clashes and turf wars in Madrid and Barcelona in recent years on the growing presence of such Dominican street gangs, which have become increasingly fragmented and unpredictable.

Spanish police say the arrest in Sabadell is part of a broader effort to dismantle foreign-linked gang networks operating on Spanish soil.