The Spanish criminal who inspired ‘Money Heist’ is extradited to Peru for a drug trafficking trial

The Spanish criminal José Martínez Gómez (‘El Rubio’), who served 30 years in prison for being the ringleader of the robbery of the Banco Central de Barcelona (1981) on which the successful series Money Heist was based, has arrived in Peru, extradited from Spain to be prosecuted for the alleged commission of the crime of aggravated illicit drug trafficking. Reserved sources have confirmed this Wednesday that Martínez Gómez arrived in Peru escorted by Interpol agents on Friday at 7:50 p.m. local time. He is being held in a prison awaiting the start of the trial, in which he faces a possible sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

The Spaniard was required by the Peruvian Justice since 2009 for drug trafficking committed allegedly in 2008 en the Jorge Chávez international airport, in Lima, and had an international arrest warrant from Interpol. The order details that in June 2008 personnel from the Anti-Drug Directorate of the National Police of Peru (Dirandro) found at the Jorge Chávez airport two suitcases with 10.5 kilos of cocaine alkaloid hidden among nougat, coffee and three rectangular packages that were destined for Italy.

“He is a media figure who participated in the assault on the Central Bank of Barcelona in 1981 and served a sentence of more than 30 years in prison,” said the head of Interpol in Lima, Jorge Maguino, to the channel América Noticias about the extradited man, who inspired the famous character of the ‘Professor’ in the Netflix series Money Heist. Maguino added that ‘El Rubio’, after serving his sentence for the famous robbery, was arrested in 2024, vehemently denies the facts and claims that he has never been to Peru. The authorities had already tried to transfer Martínez Gómez from Spain to Peru on two occasions without success because, according to the Peruvian colonel, the defendant was waiting to board the plane to “cause a scandal” in order to inconvenience the passengers and provoke the suspension of the extradition trip.