Man wanted in connection with abusing his daughter from the age of three arrested in Mijas

National Police officers from Spain's wanted person tracking group managed to locate the villa in Mijas where he was hiding. And, with the help of their colleagues on the Costa del Sol, they set up a discreet surveillance operation around the house. They knew he was there. But he never came out.

They kept a watch for three weeks, hidden around the property where the fugitive - who had been wanted for years - was living with a new partner and his children. Until he made one mistake: when he went outside to put out the rubbish in the street, police started to appear from everywhere.

The 49-year-old Argentinian man allegedly sexually abused the young daughter he had with his ex-partner when they lived in the South American country. The charges date back to 2007, when the little girl was only three, and lasted until she was eight years old.

According to police sources, the fugitive had been reported by his ex-partner but left the country before his trial, in which he faced a prison term of more than 20 years if found guilty.

In August, the Argentine justice system issued an international arrest warrant the man. Suspecting that he might be in Spain, the National Police's wanted person tracking group began to investigate. And they found his trail on the Costa del Sol.

The group's specialists managed to locate his residence in Mijas and kept it under surveillance from 7 August. Officers discovered that the property had an interior patio where he practically lived and hardly ever left the house.

At one o'clock in the afternoon on 29 August, when he was about to throw the rubbish from the property into a container on the street, the officers arrested him.