Ex-partner held woman captive for three days in lorry from Motril to Getafe

The incident began in Motril, where the 27-year-old Spanish woman lives, on 11 September. The alert was received by the Cometa centre, the electronic monitoring system used to enforce court-ordered restrictions on approaching victims of gender-based and sexual violence. The system monitors electronic devices such as wristbands, ankle tags and mobile phones belonging to offenders and, in some cases, victims.

The initial alert indicated that the suspect had approached the woman's workplace and had been taking photographs of her. Staff at the monitoring centre managed to contact her.

"My ex-partner has grabbed me and put me in a lorry," she told them, although she was unable to give details of its make, model or colour.

Three days later, at 7.15am on Monday 14 September, the 091 control room at Madrid's Police Headquarters alerted public safety patrols operating in Getafe that a 33-year-old Spanish man born in Paraguay was holding his ex-girlfriend captive inside a lorry. Authorities detected the pair in the Madrid region.

The first officers searched the area but were unable to locate them. Another marked police car then spotted a man behaving suspiciously and appearing keen to avoid them, according to sources close to the investigation cited by ABC.

The officers asked him to identify himself and checked his details against police records. They were told that he was subject to a court order preventing him from approaching the woman. The ruling was still subject to the judicial process and no final sentence had been issued.

When questioned, the man initially said he was alone at the industrial estate and denied having any problems with his ex-partner. The officers continued to question him.

"We've had a serious argument and she's locked inside a lorry," he told them, before giving them the address of nearby Calle Severo Ochoa in the Los Gavilanes business park.

Police quickly found a woman inside the vehicle's cab. They identified her and confirmed that she was the victim.

She told officers that her former partner had forced his way into her home in Motril at around 7pm on Friday 11 September.

"He took me against my will. He put me in a car and, halfway there, he took me out and put me in this lorry, where I've been held captive for three days," she said.

The man was arrested and placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities on suspicion of unlawful detention and breaching the court order preventing him from approaching the woman.