Four remanded in custody over alleged kidnapping case

A judge in Marbella has remanded four people in custody after arrests linked to the disappearance of Darren Hoolahan, the brother of former Ireland international Wes Hoolahan.

Five people were arrested in total in a police and judicial operation on the Costa del Sol. Four of them were ordered into provisional custody, communicated and without bail, after giving evidence before the judge on duty at Marbella’s examining court number four.

The suspects are being investigated at this stage for alleged unlawful detention, possession of war weapons, membership of a criminal organisation and offences against public health. Court sources said the legal qualification remains provisional and may change as the inquiry continues.

The fifth suspect was released provisionally, but must report to court twice a month. He remains in prison on the basis of an unrelated international arrest warrant issued by a central investigating court at the Audiencia Nacional.

Inquiry linked to disappearance last summer

The case centres on events in Marbella last summer, when Hoolahan went missing and his whereabouts were not known. Reports in Ireland say a woman from his circle filed a missing-person report on 10 June.

Hoolahan, who is 37, had been living on the Costa del Sol for several years and worked in the nightlife sector. Irish police are understood to suspect his disappearance may be connected to disputes involving criminal groups operating along the Malaga coast.

The case has also been linked in earlier reporting to an attempted intrusion at the property where he was staying in March, when CCTV allegedly captured at least three people entering the home on the night of 25 March. Hoolahan was not there at the time.

CNS reported earlier this week that the missing man was increasingly feared dead amid the same investigation. Read that report here.

Interpol is also understood to have circulated a search alert for Hoolahan, who remains officially missing.

What the court said

According to the judicial sources cited in the reporting, the prison decision was taken after the suspects were questioned during the duty period that began on 28 October. The investigation is still ongoing and no public court ruling has established criminal responsibility.