COPENHAGEN: The Danish man sentenced to life in jail for the murder of journalist Kim Wall aboard his homemade submarine was arrested on Tuesday after a failed prison escape bid led to a standoff with police.
“Peter Madsen tried to escape,” a Copenhagen police official told AFP.
Police confirmed on Twitter that Madsen had been “arrested and removed from the scene” after being surrounded by police officers, with unconfirmed reports he had threatened them with an explosive device.
Danish tabloid BT reported Madsen had taken a hostage and threatened prison staff with a pistol-like object to force his way out of the facility.
It quoted witnesses who said he managed to drive away in a white van before police stopped him.
Photos from the scene showed Madsen sitting on the grass by a leafy wall next to a road a few hundreds meters (yards) from the prison, with two police officers lying prone on the ground pointing their weapons at him.
Madsen, a 49-year-old submarine enthusiast, was convicted in April 2018 of murdering the 30-year-old journalist Kim Wall as she interviewed him on board his submarine in August 2017.
In a documentary that aired in September, he confessed for the first time to the killing, after having insisted during the trial that her death was an accident.
“There is only one who is guilty, and that is me,” Madsen said in the documentary.
In a case that made headlines around the world, Madsen had however admitted to the court that he chopped up her corpse and threw her body parts into the sea.
Danish sub killer arrested after failed prison escape
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Danish sub killer arrested after failed prison escape
- Danish tabloid BT reported Madsen had taken a hostage and threatened prison staff with a pistol-like object to force his way out of the facility
- Madsen was convicted in April 2018 of murdering the 30-year-old journalist Kim Wall as she interviewed him on board his submarine
Spanish police arrest 3 men for shipping dried opium poppy by mail
- The investigation began in September 2025 after the interception of four postal shipments
- Analysis determined that the substance was “Papaver somniferum,” also known as opium poppy
MADRID: Spanish police announced Saturday they arrested three men on suspicion of shipping dried opium poppy capsules by mail across Spain and abroad, including to the United States.
The three were arrested in January and have remained in custody since then, the Civil Guard said in a statement. They were charged with crimes against public health for drug trafficking.
The investigation began in September 2025 after the interception of four postal shipments containing almost 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds) of plant-based substances at the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, the gateway to Alicante and the Costa Blanca area in southeastern Spain.
Analysis determined that the substance was “Papaver somniferum,” also known as opium poppy, a plant directly linked to the production of opium and its derivatives, the statement said.
Investigators noted that the same surname was used on all the shipments, both for the senders and recipients. It was also verified that all the packages had been sent from different addresses, located in the municipality of Los Alcázares, in the Murcia region.
The operation led to the identification of three men from the same clan, all born in India, who were arrested and a stash of 527 kilograms (about 1,161 pounds) of Papaver somniferum was seized.
After consulting police databases, investigators verified that the three men had been linked to recent thefts of opium poppy from legal plantations intended for pharmaceutical use and located in the province of Albacete.
“In Spain there are legal crops of this plant intended for pharmaceutical use,” said Guardia Civil spokesman Álvaro Gallardo. “But there are many people who extract opium completely illegally for consumption or trafficking, something dangerous if done uncontrollably, since it is a narcotic substance.”
The three detainees were brought before the investigating court of the judicial district of Elche, which ordered their imprisonment.
