Inside a Spanish hideout on the Costa del Sol, one of Britain's most wanted men made a quiet life for himself until it all came crumbling down.
David Ungi, 30, was caught and arrested by police in May in Malaga after seven years on the run. But before his arrest he lived with three other British men in a spacious three-bedroom house at the foot of the Sierra de Mijas mountains in the small town of Coin, in Malaga province, the Mirror Online reports.
Ungi is thought to have lived in the house for five years, which cost around 900 euros a month to rent. Neighbours said he would use a local gym and the pals would sit and smoke marijuana on their front-facing balcony, rarely speaking to anyone.
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British-plated RS4 or RSQ8 Audis, worth about £100,000, would reportedly pull up outside every two or three months. During his time on the run, Ungi lived on a diet of baked beans, crumpets and sweets and shopped at a Buyrite British supermarket.
The four men are said to still owe the owner of the supermarket 100 Euros after stocking up on wine gums, cream eggs, Haribo sweets, dolly mixtures and fishcakes, and promising to pay later. In May, Ungi was arrested as he entered a different gym at a shopping centre with a free day pass. He reportedly had a gun in his bag.
Ungi appeared at a court in Madrid on Tuesday, July 19, to oppose extradition to the UK on drugs charges. Ungi was on the National Crime Agency’s most wanted list after fleeing to Spain within 24 hours of the murder of 18-year-old Vinny Waddington in 2015 in Garston.
Vinny was shot at through a car window and rammed off his motorbike on Banks Road in Garston. Two men were convicted of the 18 year-old’s murder in 2016, but the third suspect wanted by Merseyside Police, Ungi, was still on the run.
The Mirror found his Spanish hideout, where police reportedly seized a firearm and 15 kilos of cocaine, before he was also placed under formal investigation by a court in Coin for weapons possession. More weapons including a machine gun, and drugs including 19 kilos of cannabis resin, were reportedly found during a subsequent search of their pad.
The National Crime Agency said Ungi was alleged to be involved in the unlawful distribution of drugs in the Liverpool area.
A neighbour in Coin said: “They didn’t say much but honestly they came across as nice guys. I cannot believe what he’s supposed to have been involved in. Police descended and it was huge.
"I couldn’t believe what they brought out of that place. David was always really nice. None of them worked. Nobody had any idea they were wanted. He seemed to always go out with a backpack on. Fancy cars would pull up every now and then.”
An source near Marbella told the Mirror: “If he was carrying a gun when he was arrested, there’s only one reason for that – someone was looking to iron them out. I find it strange so many British fugitives still come to Spain, and to this area. But they do. There’s still plenty of them.”
Spanish police said at the time of Ungi’s arrest that three other Britons accused of helping him stay on the run had also been detained. At Tuesday’s hearing it emerged the UK was only seeking his extradition on the drug charges.
Ungi rejected his extradition on a video link from jail on Tuesday, claiming he had lived in Spain since 2018. Spanish prosecutors saw no reason to oppose extradition.
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