The Guardia Civil arrested an ex-member of their own police force as the suspect culprit behind the Cerro Gordo fires.

The last six months have seen a string of calls in from members of the public about fire outbreaks, and even before the caller could mention where, the police and fire service were already gearing up to race off to Cerro Gordo, such was the frequency of deliberate fires up there.

As mentioned in a recent article in the Seaside Gazette, an arsonist, acting in a very professional manner, as no incriminating evidence was ever left, had provoked ten fires since October. The culprit even used a combination of inflammable and retardant materials so that he would have time to get away before the fires were spotted.

Quite apart from the actual fires that caught, there were also failed attempts; no mention of which was passed to the press, as the Guardia Civil were on the trial of the culprit. On the 12th of February, there was a fire that was reported in the press, however there had been three failed attempts that same week.

That same October, such was the social alarm amongst the residents,  Seprona sent in a special team to stake out the area, backed by agents for the Department of the Environment, belonging to the Junta de Andalucia. Infoca also kept a small squad in place.

So, with all the man hours and work in general being put in by Seprona, which is a branch of the Guardia Civil that deals with poaching and environmental damage, the Guardia Civil were determined to nab the arsonist, and they finally came up trumps.

As the number of suspects narrowed down, it looked increasingly as if an ex-member of the Guardia Civil was behind it all. Then, on the 26th of March, the Guardia Civil arrested the suspect. The arrested man is a 60-year-old, retired G.C. policeman from Nerja.

However, all the evidence that the Guardia Civil has against the man is circumstantial; he wasn’t caught red handed or anything like that. Several witnesses saw the suspect in the area just before a blaze started.

Now, here comes the twist to the story: the suspect was booked and released pending trial – the judge did not consider that the man being remanded in custody  necessary – but just a few hours after his release, the hillside went up in flames again, as reported in the Seaside Gazette on Wednesday the 28th. (Cerro Gordo Burns Again)

The Guardia Civil are now hard at work again to prove – as circumstances appear to indicate – that the man arrested was responsible.

(News: Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)
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