Dramatic police video shows Irish man’s arrest following latest shooting in Marbella

Officers arrested the British man and the Irish national after a popular restaurant frequented by celebs was targeted last month.

Both men were held after the March 11 incident at British-owned eatery La Sala, where a gunman was seen firing several bullets into the window before escaping on a motorbike with an accomplice.

The popular restaurant, near the upmarket port of Puerto Banus, has attracted the likes of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Erling Harland, Jurgen Klopp and Harry Maguire over the years.

Now, Policía Nacional have released footage of the arrests of two men which they said had been held “for a shooting that occurred in broad daylight against a restaurant”.

“Four home searches carried out in Marbella and Estepona and €31,190 in cash seized”, they wrote alongside the post on X. “A large machete” and “one revolver” were also seized.

In the footage, heavily armed officers can be seen surrounding a property at nightime as they gain entrance after forcing their way through locked gates. They can also be seen in an upstairs bedroom window searching the apartment.

In another clip, masked police armed with an array of weapons marching along a street to another apartment with a swimming pool at the back.

The daylight raid also shows officer gaining access to the rear of the property as an alarm sounds. Footage then shows officers counting piles of cash alongside two bullets.

Two suspects are then seen being led along a corridor in what appears to be a police station where one hides his face from the camera.

A spokesman for Spain’s National Police said: “National Police officers have arrested two men as the suspected authors of a shooting in broad daylight in which a restaurant was targeted.

“The suspects used a motorbike and one of them got off and fired at least 15 shots into the windows, without fortunately (sic) hitting anyone. The two suspects are linked to organised crime.”

The spokesman added: “Four searches have taken place at residential properties in Marbella and Estepona and €31,190 in cash seized along with a large machete and a revolver.”

Police say the motorbike used in the attack had false number plates but they managed to trace it and arrested the suspects after working out the itinerary they had taken after speeding away from the scene and tracking down the home of one of the men.

According to reports, the arrests took place on March 25 but police have only just gone public with them. Both men have been remanded in prison pending an ongoing investigation after a court appearance.

Detectives have not yet said why the attack on La Sala took place.

Respected Spanish news website El Espanol described the La Sala incident at the time as a “very severe warning”, highlighting the fact another restaurant less than 300 feet away was one of two eateries attacked by arsonists in the area on the same night last December.

It added: “In Marbella these mafia-style warnings tend to go more unnoticed because they tend to be carried out with more discretion.

“At the end of December last year two restaurants were set on fire. But that occurred during the night and with no witnesses.”

Yesterday morning police said a 21-year-old man had been rushed to hospital after being injured in a new shooting nearby, the fifth in just over a month in the area including the La Sala one.

He was shot in the knee and midsection in the latest incident just after midnight on a residential estate called Los Naranjos, a short drive from the tourist hotspot of Puerto Banus.

A car the gunman is believed to have shot him from fled the scene moments before the first police officers arrived.

The victim, who was taken to Marbella’s Costa del Sol Hospital, was found in another vehicle. His nationality has not yet been disclosed. Locals who dialled 999 reported hearing three or four shots.

Detectives confirmed the incident this morning, with a spokesman for the National Police in Malaga saying: “Officers are investigating a new incident involving a firearm which occurred around 12.15am on the residential estate of Los Naranjos in the municipality of Marbella.

“Police found a 21-year-old man with gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. He had two gunshot wounds, one in his knee and another in his pelvic area.

“He has been taken to a hospital in the area.”

Disgusted local residents have begun to brand Puerto Banus the ‘Wild West’ and openly expressed their fears the whole of Marbella, voted the best European destination of 2024 earlier this month by specialist website European Best Destinations, could suffer the effects of the port’s dark underside.

For many years, Puerto Banus was the home to senior members of the Kinahan cartel, including Christy snr and his two sons Daniel and Christy jnr.