Words by

Alice Demurtas

Photo by

Unnur Birgisdóttir

Juergen Heitmann via Flickr

You might remember the intriguing drug smuggling story we reported on a couple of weeks ago, involving a paralysed woman stuck in Spain and a parcel filled with 8kg of drugs sent from Spain to the Icelandic Chess Association. Two weeks later, the plot thickens.

Looking for help

Sunna Elvira Þorkelsdóttir, the woman in question, is still stuck in a hospital in Malaga after having fallen between floors in her house in Spain. Sunna has been desperately trying to get back home to Iceland to get proper care, as she is not provided with any psychological or linguistic assistance where she is now. The Spanish police, however, have refused to relinquish her passport for the past two weeks without providing her with any information as to why she is forced to stay.

With the help of her lawyer Páll Kristjánsson, Sunna recently sent an official request for help to the Icelandic government, in the hopes that authorities would vouch for her and get her passport back. “But the government had already told the Spanish police that I would be available here for further questioning,” Sunna told Fréttablaðið. “I’m just really disappointed. It looks like my only way out of here is if the state helps me out,” she added.

Malaga

What a twist

While Elvira seems to have been left in total ignorance when it comes to her own fate, DV recently found out that there might be a good reason why the Spanish police need her to stay in Spain. It was Sunna, in fact, who was charged for the costs of mailing the infamous parcel to the Icelandic Chess Association. On her part, Sunna hasn’t been able to provide any explanation in regards to the matter.

According to DV, the parcel itself was sent by a man called David Lopez Cobos from a company located 400km from Malaga. The man, who works for said company, told DV that while the parcel had indeed been sent from there, a third party had kept the parcel in custody in the meantime.

While the parcel was paid with her own money, Sunna seemed to know nothing about it. Not only was she surprised when her husband was arrested upon his arrival in Iceland, but she was also frustrated by the fact that no one has been able to explain to her what is going on. “I just really need to get answers,” she told Fréttablaðið. “What happened? What situation did he get me into?”