Murder suspect of John George extradited to Spain

A Northern Irish man accused of murdering Belfast father-of-two John George has been extradited from a Portuguese prison to a Spanish one.

According to Belfast Live, 27-year-old Jonny Smyth is currently being held in a remand prison near Badajoz, a border town in Spain’s south-west Extremadura region. He was handed over to Spanish police after being detained in Braga, northern Portugal, on March 25 under a European Arrest Warrant.

A court official told Belfast Live that “the Torrevieja court is currently awaiting a report on the proceedings carried out in Badajoz in order to decide what is appropriate.”

Smyth is expected to appear before the Torrevieja-based investigating judge in the coming days. This will be a closed-door session, as is standard in Spain, where only trials are held publicly, Belfast Live notes.

‘Operation Resistente’

The arrest forms part of a wider murder investigation dubbed Operation Resistente. As Belfast Live quotes the Guardia Civil: “In the framework of Operation Resistente, carried out by the Territorial Judicial Police Team of Pilar de la Horadada for a crime of intentional homicide of an Irish citizen in the municipality of Rojales, we have received information through SIRENE of the arrest on March 25 of a 27-year-old man in the Portuguese city of Braga.”

Timeline of John George’s disappearance and the discovery of murder

As reported by The Belfast Telegraph, John George, 37 (also known as John Hardy), was reported missing on December 14, 2023, after failing to board a scheduled flight home. His body was later discovered on January 7, 2024, hidden under lemon trees about five miles from the town of Rojales.

Belfast Live adds that a man was arrested the same day and appeared in court on January 10 after being held for nearly 72 hours. According to the suspect’s Costa Blanca-based defence lawyer, Manuel Ramon Rives, his detention stemmed from his “recent friendship” with another man who was the alleged perpetrator.

No formal charges have been publicly confirmed yet, and Spanish police continue to remain tight-lipped about the investigation, refusing all media requests for comment, Belfast Live confirms.

This case has gripped communities across both Spain and Northern Ireland. A recent BBC documentary shed some light on the story, but the murderer remains unknown.

View all news from Ireland.