Spanish police seized at least 83 million euros worth of buildings and bank deposits owned by drug traffickers in 2007, the police said Sunday.

Spanish police seized at least 83 million euros worth of buildings and bank deposits owned by drug traffickers in 2007, the police said Sunday. The buildings may actually be worth much more, as the police used public registry prices and not market prices to value them, a police statement said. Buying real estate has become one of the fastest ways to launder drug money through front companies, which develop two or three buildings to get the recognition that allows them to camouflage themselves. Drug traffickers also send money abroad via small transfers from money changers, banks or individuals carrying cash. The main investment destinations for ill-gotten gains are Colombia, the Caribbean and the U.S. city of Miami. Heroin income also tends to be sent to the United Arab Emiratescity of Dubai, the main banking center in that country.

Read more »

Jury took just over four hours to clear Ian Rush.

Ian Rush accused of setting up a company to continue the work of a Lowestoft couple, who supplied high speed boats to international drug smugglers, has been found not guilty.Following a four week trial at Ipswich Crown Court, a jury took just over four hours to clear Ian Rush.
The ending of the case has cleared the way for the sentencing of Ellen George, 41, from Colville Road, Lowestoft, who was one of the owners of the business which HM Revenue and Customs alleged Rush had succeeded.
George has pleaded guilty to money laundering offences after Customs investigators, working in co-operation with the authorities in Spain, searched her home in Lowestoft and discovered £1.2 million in cash stashed in holdalls, cupboards and under the stairs. During Rush's trial, the prosecution alleged that he had worked with Neil Davison and Ellen George, who ran Crompton Marine and who specialised on manufacturing high speed inflatable boats, HM Revenue and Customs claimed that after Davison and George were arrested in March 2004, Rush set up his own business, Nautexco Marine to continue supplying boats to drug smugglers. Davison, also of Colville Road, is currently on bail in Spain accused of drug smuggling offences.
Rush, a father-of-three from Brand End Road, Butterwick, near Boston pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of drug smuggling and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.
Giving evidence, Rush had earlier told the jury that he had been unaware of the activities of Davison and George, who operated from the Brook Yachts site in Lowestoft, and for who he had delivered boats to Spain.

Read more »

Juan Vera, the Convergencia Andaluza Mayor of the village of Tolox, had been charged with planning crimes

Juan Vera, the Convergencia Andaluza Mayor of the village of Tolox, had been charged with planning crimes for granting building licences for more than 2,000 homes in this small village in the Sierra de las Nieves, which has a current population of just 2,400 people. Now, EFE reports that the Málaga prosecution service is charging the Mayor on 23 separate counts, and that each will be tried as a separate case. In each of them, EFE reports, he faces terms of between one and two years, and a public office ban of up to 10 years. The municipal architect and a legal assessor are also charged in some of the cases for licences granted between 2004 and 2006.

Read more »

English family held at gunpoint during the attack in Sotogrande private gated community where the Duchess of York is a regular visitor

English family have been attacked during an armed raid on their exclusive home.
The family were tied up and held at gunpoint during the attack in a private gated community where the Duchess of York is a regular visitor and footballer Glenn Hoddle owns a home. During the raid, which took place at their home alongside Valderrama golf course, in Sotogrande, the thieves made off with cash, jewelry as well as numerous other valuables.Understood to be from Eastern Europe, the gang of four forced their way into the property at 9pm, when only one of the family was at home.They then laid in wait until the other three members got back a short time later, before tying them all up.Security has been stepped up in the urbanisation, which has its own private security firm and checkpoints to get in and out.
It is understood to be the first time thieves have used weapons on a raid in the estate.They had previously used gas sprays or raided when the occupants were not at home

Read more »

Excita Club, Gran Canaria have smashed a prostitution ring

Police in Gran Canaria have smashed a prostitution ring which is thought to have brought at least 50 Brazilian women into the country posing as tourists. The racket is said to have earned the gang well in excess of one and a half million euros.So far seven people have been arrested in connection with running the operation but further detentions are expected.
The investigation got underway following a tip-off that numerous women of an exotic, Brazilian aspect were to be seen leaving and entering a building in Las Palmas.
Like other such establishments, euphemistically advertised as casas de contactos, it had ceased operating on an undercover basis in recent months and was now openly trading under the name of Excita. The new openness of brothels in the region has made police vigilance easier.
The Brazilian women were here illegally, having long out-stayed their tourist visas.
Recruited in their native country, they were under no illusion as to what they were coming to the Canary Islands for and most were seasoned prostitutes. They were selected through photos e-mailed to Excita.
Those chosen were given airline tickets, cash and hotel reservations to allay any suspicions of border police. On arrival in Las Palmas they were taken straight to the club and presented with a bill of 1,500 euros which they had to work off before they could start earning for themselves.
The six men and one woman involved in running the racket included three local men as well as a Swiss, a Cuban and two Brazilians.

Read more »

Demonstration as Santiago del Valle, the man arrested in connection with the death of five year old Mari Luz Cortés, arrived at the court in Huelva

Demonstration as Santiago del Valle, the man arrested in connection with the death of five year old Mari Luz Cortés, arrived at the court in Huelva shortly after 5 on Thursday afternoon, where a crowd of some 600 people had been waiting outside since the early hours of the morning. The angry crowd shouted "Asesino!"[murderer] and hurled bottles and stones as the detainees, Santiago and his sister, arrived in police vans. The security fences that were serving as a barrier between the public and the court were used like throwing weapons. The police, who had send to the place several intervention teams, were forced to move against the crowd, with shots to the air and using their batons, trying to keep the order and disband the crowd , who were, besides throwing stones, doing fires in the streets and vandalizing several parked cars.During the uproar, two Spanish journalists, who were covering the story, were slightly injured. Izidro Huete, a cameraman from Cuatro Television [Channel 4], was hit in the head with a stone and had to be carried to a hospital to receive medical treatment. As well, a journalist from the radio Onda Cero was injured in the arms, in the middle of the crowd clash.

The first one breaking the orders from the police was the grandfather of Mari Luz, Juan José Fernandez, a fact that gave more strength to the protesters. ‘You criminal murderer, you have to pay for what you did! The prison is not enough for you!’ this was one of the various sayings directed to Santiago del Valle the confessed killer of Mari Luz.Between the screams and pushes, the rage of the relatives and neighbours mixed with a will of provoking chaos by a group of young persons from the El Torréjon district forced the authorities to expand the perimeter of security, closing all the streets that had a connection to the court.

Read more »

Spanish police fired rubber bullets and clashed with protesters gathered outside a court Thursday in the town of Huelva on arrival of two suspects

Spanish police fired rubber bullets and clashed with protesters gathered outside a court Thursday in the town of Huelva for the arrival of two suspects in the disappearance and death of a 5-year-old local girl.
The crowds shouted «murderer» and hurled bottles and stones as the suspects _ a man and
his sister _ arrived in a police van. Three police officers and two journalists were slightly injured. Two people were arrested.
«I insist in asking people to stay calm and to let the courts do their work,» Juan Jose Lopez Garzon, Interior Ministry delegate for the southern region of Andalucia, told reporters.The detained man and his sister were arrested Tuesday in the central city of Cuenca.Mari Luz Cortes vanished Jan. 13 when she left her home in the southern town of Huelva to buy sweets. After weeks of searches, police found her remains March 7 in an estuary near the city.The case was major news in Spain given that the child had disappeared in an area about two hours' drive from the Portuguese town where British girl Madeleine McCann went missing in May of last year while on vacation with her parents.
Lopez Garzon said the detained man is the main suspect. He had been a neighbor of the dead girl, Mari Luz Cortes, but had left Huelva shortly after her disappearance. He was arrested weeks later but released for lack of evidence.
The General Council of the Judiciary, an oversight board, said Thursday it had ordered an inquiry into why the suspect had been free despite having been sentenced twice in recent years for child abuse.

Read more »

Santiago del Valle García has confessed to the murder of Mari Luz Cortés

Santiago Del Valle had always been the prime suspect in the case but police lacked evidence against him. According to police sources quoted in the newspaper, he had a history of child molestation, even on his own daughter, and had left the El Torrejón district of Huelva to avoid possible reprisals from indignant neighbours. His wife, whose name does not appear, was detained for questioning with her husband although she is not a suspect; his sister could be accused of collaboration in the execution of a crime.
Santiago del Valle García, 52, has confessed to the murder of Mari Luz Cortés, according to news sources. He had already been questioned in Granada but was released for lack of proof. Santiago G. and his wife and sister, who had been neighbours of the Cortés family in Huelva, were detained in Cuenca, to where they had moved well before the body of Mari Luz was found downriver from the family home.
Mari Luz disappeared on her way back home from buying a packet of crisps on January 13th and was the subject of a wide search throughout the country, with European extensions. Her body was found accidentally on March 7th by workmen at the Cepsa refinery in Huelva. Autopsy reports indicated that she had been murdered very near, or on the date she disappeared.

Read more »

man, named by the Mari Luz Cortés father Juan José, as Santiago G.

Europa Press reports that the arrested man has now confessed, to the police but not to a judge, to his involvement in the disappearance of the five year old, but says that she died accidentally. According to his statement to police, he said that she fell and died accidentally when she was with him ‘at her own choice’. The paper reports that this man had been arrested earlier in Granada just a few days after Mari Luz vanished, and was released on a lack of any evidence.
A man, who was arrested in Spain yesterday is reported to have confessed to his involvement in the death of Mari Luz Cortés, the five year old girl who vanished in Huelva on January 13. The man, named by the victim’s father Juan José, as Santiago G., lived locally in the same Torrejón district of the city, but has recently moved to Cuenca with his wife to avoid reprisals.
The suspect, who has a previous criminal record for child sexual abuse, was arrested with his wife in Pajaroncillo, a village in Cuenca province. Canal Sur reports that his sister has also been detained by the police.
Known as the Spanish Madeleine in the British press, she vanished when going to buy some crisps on the previous January 13 in the Torrejón district of Huelva. Her body finally appeared floating in the Ria de Huelva on March 7.Reporting restrictions remain in force in the case, but the child’s father, Juan José Cortés, told the Huelva Infomación newspaper that the man is called Santiago, lived locally and has a criminal record for child and sexual abuse. He said that the family had suspected him from the very first moment in the case.
‘We know that it is him, we are sure, and this is no surprise to me’, said the father this morning.Police say that they are sure that the man is responsible for the death of the child, and they believe that the motive was sexual. He is also reported to have a distancing order in place against his own children. The analysis from the police forensic department indicates however that the man could not manage to sexually force himself on the child.

Read more »

Seville drug mule was detained when about to board a plane for Dublin

The Provincial Court in Málaga has sentenced a 34 year old Sevilla man who was found at Málaga Airport with 250 grams of cocaine in his body, to three years and six months in prison. The court heard how he had ingested 87 balls of the drug and was detained when about to board a plane for Dublin in August last year. There were a further 69 balls of the drug hidden among his clothing, weighing an additional 198 grams.

Read more »

Drugs hidden in the bumpers of the vehicle

The Guardia Civil have arrested a 39 year old Moroccan man in the port of Málaga after he was found to be transporting 24 kilos of hashish in his car. The find was made on Sunday when customs officers thought that the man, named with the initials M.B., was acting suspiciously. They finally found the drugs hidden under the dashboard and in the bumpers of the vehicle which had just arrived on the ferry from Melilla.

Read more »

Spanish Navy in court after 250 kilos of hashish was found on a navy coastal patrol vessel

Three members of the Spanish Navy are waiting to appear in court after 250 kilos of hashish was found on a navy coastal patrol vessel in the Strait of Gibraltar. The vessel had departed from Ceuta and docked in San Fernando in Cádiz and a joint Navy and Police investigation continues. The vessel’s mission was to patrol the Spanish waters in the Ceuta area.

Read more »

Mari Luz Cortés man has been arrested in Huelva

man has been arrested in Huelva in connection with the disappearance and death of the five year old Mari Luz Cortés, whose body was found floating in the Ria de Huelva last March 7. She had vanished when going to buy some crisps on the previous January 13 in the Torrejón district of Huelva.The Government Sub-delegation offices in Huelva have confirmed that an arrest was made yesterday, and that this person is now in police custody answering questions.The identity of the arrested man has not been given, and a reminder was given that reporting restrictions are in force in the case.

Read more »

Drugs Lab found

Drugs laboratory was broken in the suburb of Molinos Marfagones. In Muricia City it was the Guardia Civil that was in action again in a big crackdown on suspected drug traders that involved many agents and a helicopter. Again, a clan is suspected at being at the heart of the alleged network. As well as arresting suspects officers also took away a monkey that was being held illegally. Crime committed by gangs from Eastern Europe causes particular concern as their attacks are often very violent and ruthless. They attack homes, bars and businesses with great speed and efficiency, terrorizing the victims. This month National Police agents smashed one gang with the arrest of 15 people. Twelve are Romanian, Two Albanian and one Moroccan. The gang is accused of targeting homes and offices in the provinces of Alicante and Murcia. More than 20 robberies are said by police to have been committed by this gang in each province. A great deal of stolen property, including jewellery, watches, audiovisual equipment, industrial equipment and four vehicles has been recovered.

Read more »

Five Moroccan men were arrested at the weekend

Five Moroccan men were arrested at the weekend and are said by the Guardia Civil to have been members of a violent group that has been using pistols in holdups at petrol stations. The arrests took place in Águilas but the crimes cover a wide area. The gang is also said to have created a climate of intimidation amongst other Moroccans. More arrests are expected as investigations continue. Finally, Murcia priests became suspicious at the number of English women in their 50s who were being married to Nigerian men who didn't speak any Spanish. They took their suspicions to the Guardia Civil and a huge increase has been identified in the number of marriages between Nigerian males and women of Gypsy origin. Study of documentation provided for the marriages showed many common addresses and other suspicious aspects. Some of the women had only been in Murcia for a day. About 40 cases of alleged marriages of convenience, which aim to get residency for non-EU immigrants, are now being investigated and there are suspicions that an organised crime gang may be involved

Read more »

Illegal hunting groups were captured in Toledo and Salamanca

Two illegal hunting groups were captured in Toledo and Salamanca last week by the Guardia Civil who arrested 12 men, amongst them Pedro Gutiérrez - “El Capea” - bullfighter son of the veteran matador, Niño de la Capea. The Salamanca ring was discovered after Guardia Civil investigators found them buying illegal silencers from the Toledo group. Spain’s national parks were favourite locations for clandestine shoots of everything from owls to wolves, with clients paying 1,000 euros to kill a stag and up to 6,000 for a mountain goat. The members of both groups were charged with endangering wildlife, illegal possession of firearms and unlawful association.

Read more »

British man and his son,are to go on trial at the end of this month

British man and his son,are to go on trial at the end of this month on charges that they murdered an expat, whose body was found at the bottom of a well on the outskirts of Álora. Each of the men faces a 14-year prison sentence if found guilty.
The body of Lee ‘Alfie’ H.W., 37, was discovered inside the well on July 18, 2005, eight days after his disappearance had been reported to police. The corpse exhibited a head injury and indications that the victim’s hands had been tied.
According to the prosecutor’s case summary, the victim, who ran a tile-laying crew, fired Jason C.B. in mid-June 2005 after a dispute over an unpaid debt. A couple of days later the two had a fight in which the victim was injured. Several weeks later, according to the prosecutor, Jason C.B. and his father, Edward C.B., met with the victim in Cártama under the pretence of discussing a potential job, but instead took him to an isolated location and struck a fatal blow to his head with a blunt object. They then tied his hands and strapped a block of concrete to the body before throwing it down the well, located in the Arroyo Pedro la Torre area of Álora.
Several months later the British father and son were arrested, one of them picked up by police in England and the other in an unspecified Guadalhorce Valley town.
The prosecutor also accuses the men of robbery, saying they took 2,000 pounds and 100 euros off the victim, as well as his bankcard, which they allegedly used several times. The jury trial is scheduled to begin on March 31.

Read more »

Mayor of Cómpeta banned from any public office

The former Mayor of the Málaga village of Cómpeta, the ex Partido Popular Mayor, Leovigildo López, has been banned from any public office position for the next seven years, in a sentence from criminal court No. 1 in the provincial capital which has found him guilty of planning crimes. He must also pay a fine of more than 2,000 €.It relates to a building licence granted for land classified as unsuitable for development, in the area known as El Pulido, and, according to the court ruling, in the ‘full knowledge’ that the decision contravened planning regulations in force at the time. Europa Press notes that the municipal architect had advised that the licence application should be turned down.López was Mayor of the village for 16 years until he decided that he would not be standing for re-election in the municipal elections which took place in May last year.

Read more »

62 years in prison for Prostitution ring

The Supreme Court has ratified a sentence from the provincial court in Almería which gave prison terms totalling 62 years to seven members of a Romanian network based in Vera which forced two countrywomen to work as prostitutes in local clubs. Europa Press reports how two of the suspects assaulted one of the women as she was travelling by bus to Almería to look for work in September 2003, and held on to her passport to force her to work for them. She worked in their club without pay for a number of weeks before she managed to escape and ask for help from the police. The other woman was freed by the Civil Guard shortly afterwards.The network’s victims will receive 30,000 € compensation from their captors.

Read more »

Policeman shot in Benidorm

policeman,Fabián Torres, was injured in the early hours of Saturday in a shooting incident at the old El Molino restaurant in the centre of Benidorm. Reports indicate that the policeman was shot in the chest with a small calibre weapon by two individuals after he had asked them for identification close to the abandoned property known to be used by drug takers.The policeman is being treated in the Marina Baja hospital in Villajoyosa, where he is now out of danger. The head of the National Polce, Joan Mesquida, has said that a full investigation has been opened with the intention of arresting those responsible.

Read more »

Ian Rush yesterday denied allegations that he continued the trade of a Lowestoft company

Ian Rush yesterday denied allegations that he continued the trade of a Lowestoft company after its owners were arrested for involvement in supplying boats to drug smugglers.Ian Rush, 43, told Ipswich Crown Court that while the business he set up produced the same type of high-speed craft at the same site in the town, he did nothing illegal.Rush said he had been unaware of the activities of Neil Davison and Ellen George, who ran Crompton Marine in Lowestoft and for whom he had delivered boats to Spain.HM Revenue and Customs claims that George and Davison, of Colville Road, Lowestoft, manufactured powerful boats for international drug traffickers while running a reputable boat yard at the Brook Yachts site.
George, 41, has pleaded guilty to her involvement while Davison remains on bail in Spain where he is facing drug-smuggling charges. Customs investigators, working with the auth-orities in Spain, searched George's home in Lowestoft and discovered £1.2m in cash stashed in holdalls, cupboards and under the stairs.
Yesterday, Rush, of Brand End Road, Butterwick, near Boston, denied that the arrest of Davison and George in March 2004 had been the motivation for him to start his own business, Nautexco Marine, with the aim of continuing the illegal trade.
Rush said that while he operated Nautexco Marine from the Brook Yachts site using some of the same suppliers and dealing with some of Crompton Marine's customers, he had never been involved in producing craft which he knew would be used for illegal purposes.He said Nautexco Marine had kept full records of all its financial deal-ings and a routine check by a VAT inspector had found nothing amiss.
The father-of-three told the jury it was while running his own transport firm, Rushtrans, that he carried out work for Davison at Crompton Marine but he was never involved in the running of their business.He also denied that visits he made to Spain to visit Davison in prison had been to plan continuing the work of Crompton Marine under another name.Rush has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of drug smuggling and con-spiracy to acquire criminal property.

Read more »

Bimal Puri,Glen Clark Cocaine had been hidden inside the wood of the desks, which had come from Mexico via Madrid and Alicante, Spain.

Four men face long prison sentences and the possible confiscation of money and property for importing 6.5kg of cocaine hidden inside computer desks imported from Mexico Police and Interpol are still looking for a fifth man who is on the run.
Unknown to the men, officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) had them under observation for three months before the drugs arrived through Heathrow on June 29 last year. The computer desks were delivered to freight handlers Southern Cross in Feltham and collected the following day. The drugs were unpacked and stored in the loft of an Edgware house, prosecutor Julian Christopher told a jury at Isleworth Crown Court.
Bimal Puri, 50, of Otterbourne Gardens, Isleworth, and Glen Clark 47, of Ramsay Close, Colindale, denied a charge of being involved in the illegal importing of 6.5kg of cocaine, of 100 per cent purity. The two other men pleaded guilty.
The drugs were said to have a street value of more than £1million.
Puri and Clark were found guilty after a two-week trial and remanded in custody. They will be sentenced, together with Jose Perdomo, 49, of Moody Road, Peckham, and Barry Hearn, of Rannoch Close, Edgware, in April.When officers went to the house in Kings Drive, Edgware, they found a rubbish clearance truck with the unpacked computer desks inside. The drugs had been hidden inside the wood of the desks, which had come from Mexico via Madrid and Alicante, Spain.The men were arrested on July 1, their homes searched and various documents and mobile phones found.

Read more »

Mohamed Kharraz aka Cherif Bin Louidane jailed for eight years

Casablanca court jailed Mohamed Kharraz, better known as Cherif Bin Louidane, for eight years, the government said on Thursday. It ordered 5.2 million dirhams of his fortune to be seized and fined him 500,000 dirhams.Moroccan drug baron was jailed along with the former head of Tangier's judicial police after a lengthy trial that pitted the Rabat authorities against powerful interests in the kingdom's northern cannabis growing regionJudicial police officers grabbed Kharraz in August 2006 at the Al Ghouroub (Sunset) cafe near the northern port city of Tangier, acting on a warrant issued after a separate drugs trial years earlier, newspapers said.
The arrest surprised locals for whom Kharraz had seemed virtually immune from the law and benefited from a reputation for generosity among the poor of a region neglected for decades by the central government, the papers said.He named over 30 members of the security services as being implicated in the drugs trade including Abdelaziz Izzou, head of the Tangier judicial police from 1996 to 2003, who was suspended from his job as head of security at Morocco's royal palaces.
Izzou was imprisoned for 18 months and had 700,000 dirhams seized by the state. Two others were jailed including Kharraz's brother while nine people were acquitted including another top former Tangier police official, the government said.
Those imprisoned were found guilty of offences including international drug trafficking, abuse of power, incitement to illegal immigration and failing to report crimes.Morocco had aimed to erase its cannabis industry by this year, a campaign given added momentum by suspicions that hashish was used to partly pay for dynamite that blew up trains in Madrid in 2004, killing 191 people.But the north African country is still the world's biggest hashish producer.The dark green fern-like plant grows well in poor soil of the northern Rif mountains and has come to be known as "green gold" because it staves off grinding poverty for thousands of local families.Smugglers hide the drug in containers and trucks or use powerful speedboats to ship it to Barcelona in Spain or Marseille in France.Moroccan customs said drugs with a value of 30 million dirhams were seized at the port of Tetouan near Tangier last year, up six times from a year earlier.But catching the top criminals and keeping them behind bars is still proving difficult.
Last year drug lord Mohamed El Ouazzani, known as El Nene, was allowed to stroll out of prison and probably fled to Spain to avoid serving the rest of an eight-year prison sentence. Six prison guards were jailed for allowing him to escape

Read more »

Eight men charged after one of Valencia’s biggest ever drug hauls

Sentencing has been released in the trial of the eight men charged after one of Valencia’s biggest ever drug hauls, three and a quarter tons of cocaine found in a lorry-load of bananas in the El Altet area of Elche four years ago. Total sentencing in the case amounts to more than 77 years and the smugglers will also have to pay the value the drug would have brought on the black market: more than 112 million €.The longest terms went to six of the suspects, who admitted their guilt and accepted sentences of 11 years, with two of them also getting another six months each for falsifying documents. Two others claimed they had got lost looking for a car boot sale and were only at the warehouse where police swooped by mistake, but the court ruled it proved that their role in the smuggling operation was to distribute the cocaine. They received terms of five years and four months each.

Read more »

Fatal shooting at the port in Algeciras

Central government offices in Cádiz have released details of a fatal shooting at the port in Algeciras on Monday evening when a Civil Guard officer was firing at the tyres of an escaping car and one of the shots hit the driver of the vehicle. He died in hospital around an hour later.EFE said the car had been reported as suspicious by staff at the port, who said they had seen one of the three occupants armed with a gun. It’s understood that the driver repeatedly ignored Civil Guard orders to pull over, and on one occasion drove straight at the officers, forcing them to jump out of the way. The shooting happened while the officers were in pursuit and one of the bullets fired at the tyres went into the vehicle, hitting the driver.
#He was carrying documentation in the name of a 27 year old man with a lengthy criminal record, but EFE said his identity has been put into doubt with statements from the two other occupants of the car, and it will be confirmed with fingerprint analyses.

Read more »

Two armed robberies in Malaga

Police in Málaga are investigating two armed robberies which took place in different parts of the city on Tuesday morning, both of them shortly before 10 am. The first assault was at a branch of Unicaja on Camino del Suárez, and involved one suspect, Diario Sur reports.Two suspects armed with a sawn-off shotgun carried out the second robbery on Calle Frigiliana, where the target on this occasion was a branch of the Banesto bank. The newspaper said the thieves fled the scene on a moped.There were no reports of any injuries in either of the two robberies, nor of the amount stolen.

Read more »

Alfredo Marijuán and Carlos Farré have been detained in custody and Isaac Pacheco Suárez and Eusebio Vázquez Fernández were released on bail.

Alfredo Marijuán and Carlos Farré have been detained in custody and Isaac Pacheco Suárez and Eusebio Vázquez Fernández were released on bail.Forty officers have been questioned in connection with the case, which relates to alleged payments received by Inspector Marijuán from Russian nationals for reports on police surveillance operations.The officer was also alleged to have delivered an envelope containing details about the girlfriend of a Russian who was arrested for cocaine smuggling in the US.The Costa del Sol gained its nickname after British criminals took advantage of the ending of an extradition treaty in 1978 to escape Scotland Yard's reach. The likes of Ronnie Knight and the drug dealer Clifford Saxe, both wanted in connection with a Security Express robbery in east London, set up home there. Kenneth Noye, who helped to launder the Brink's-Mat gold, fled to the Costa del Sol in 1996 while on the run for murder. More recently, however, it has become the base for a more dangerous breed of gang, from the UK, Russia, Colombia and eastern Europe. The Russian mafia are known to have a major presence on the Costa del Sol, exploiting lax property laws and lack of police resources to launder millions from arms dealing, drug dealing and prostitution. A Spanish interior ministry report said nearly a third of organised crime in Spain is based in the area, with 102 known gangs.Three years ago, Spain launched a major crackdown there, forming specialised units to combat the problem.Two of the four National Police UDYCO anti-drugs and organised crime chiefs who were arrested on Tuesday accused of corruption, were ordered to prison without bail on Friday evening. They are the UDYCO chief from Marbella, Carlos Farré and the organised crime chief from Málaga, Alfredo Marijuán. Instruction judge number 5 in Marbella, Julián Cabrero, also granted bail with charges remaining for the other policemen. Two translators, one based at the National Police station in Marbella, and the other the wife of an ex Russian official based in Madrid and allegedly linked to the case, were granted bail, as was the director of the Marbella Clinic, who had bail set at 30,000 €.The arrested policemen spent all of Friday in the court building in Marbella, finally leaving with heads covered around 6pm.
They are charged following a Police Internal Affairs investigation which began two years ago into alleged misappropriation of items seized in the course of police operations from mafia-type criminal gangs.The investigator in the case considers that the Chief Inspector Marijuán received payments from Russian citizens in exchange for information on security procedures in Málaga province, although the defence is reported to say there were only the normal regular contacts with the Russian Ministry of the Interior.
Spanish Minister for the Interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, on Thursday asked for respect for the four arrested police chiefs, reminding his audience about the presumption of innocence.
Meanwhile unions have criticised what they describes as the ‘systematic ill-treatment’ of the arrested policemen. They accuse the man who is the assistant operations director, Fernández Chico, of not respecting the presumption of innocence, and they have called for his resignation. They also say the men were given no food or water for a 24 hour period.The internal affairs unit is reported to have questioned some 40 other National Policemen in the province as their investigations proceed.

Read more »

William McFarlane arrested suspected drugs distribution and gambling den

Five men arrested in a swoop on drugs and illegal gambling in Spain yesterday.
William McFarlane, 56, from Glasgow, was taken into custody along with four Englishmen when police targeted a suspected drugs distribution and gambling den in the centre of Benidorm. Officers recovered £77,000 as well as a quantity of illicit drugs, prescription drugs and cigarettes.

Read more »

50-year-old man from South Shields, Tyneside was being held in Spain last night after £21.5million worth of cocaine destined for the UK was seized.

50-year-old man from South Shields, Tyneside was being held in Spain last night after £21.5million worth of cocaine destined for the UK was seized. 50-year-old man from South Shields, Tyneside, was arrested when cops swooped on a warehouse in Vilajoyosa on the Costa Blanca. They found 514 kilos of the drug. It had arrived by lorry from Lisbon after being shipped from West Africa in a load of paper handkerchiefs. Police say they have cracked a new route for drugs from Colombia.

Read more »

Man Kills Flatmate

A man from Ukraine has confessed to murdering his German flatmate at the home they shared on the Intur Urbanisation on Playa de San Juan in Alicante City this weekend.
It happened at around 2.30pm on Saturday in a flat on the fifth floor of a block on Avenida de Bruselas, and it appears the victim was beaten on the head with a stick before he was strangled with a belt and officers found blood on the walls when they arrived on the scene. The suspect is said to have immediately confessed to police, and put up no resistance to arrest.

Read more »

Street seller arrested in rape of British holidaymaker

According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, a street seller is being quizzed about the rape of a British holidaymaker near her Tenerife hotel.
The woman identified the 33-year-old man from Senegal at the scene as detectives searched him in Playa de Las Americas.
Earlier, police came across shoes and a ripped mini-skirt close to the four-star Sol Tenerife in the early hours of the morning. After a search failed to find the owner they continued to patrol the area.
The officers then met an emergency response unit who had been alerted by the unnamed victim and the African was arrested in the manhunt.

Read more »

attack on a chief inspector and a National Police officer in the Department for Foreigners at the Provincial Headquarters in Malaga.

Prosecutors are asking for 18 months in jail for a man who carried out an attack on a chief inspector and a National Police officer in the Department for Foreigners at the Provincial Headquarters in Malaga. He is facing two charges of causing injury and assault. It has not been revealed whether the suspect has a criminal record for previous similar offences.

Read more »

Arrested a Moroccan alleged to have stolen a Mercedes 320

The Guardia Civil at Algeciras port have arrested a Moroccan who is alleged to have stolen a Mercedes 320 in Italy and was attempting to transport it by ferry to North Africa. Officers became suspicious over his car documents which along with the number plate proved to be false. The car was reported stolen in Italy last October.

Read more »

Illegal television distribution networks

Five people have been detained for operating two illegal television distribution networks in Colmenar and Casabermeja. Both are alleged to have supplied local bars with programmes by cable, including coverage of football matches pirated from Digital Plus and Al Jazeera Sport. Two satellite decoders were confiscated during the National Police operation last week.

Read more »

Divers searching a reservoir for Madeleine McCann

Divers searching a reservoir for Madeleine McCann yesterday found a plastic bag containing small bones.Police experts were last night examining the gruesome find at the lake only 20 minutes from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine - three at the time - disappeared last May. Her parents Gerry and Kate McCann were told immediately by a private detective monitoring the search. Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia, who sponsored the dive, says he was acting on an underworld tip-off that Madeleine was murdered and her body thrown in a lake within 48-hours of being snatched. Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell played down the find. He said: "We have not been informed of anything by the police to indicate that this find is significant. There is nothing to indicate at this stage that they are human bones and they could easily be from an animal.
"There is nothing at the moment to indicate that this find has anything to do with Madeleine. We continue to believe she is alive."

Read more »

Spanish T.V. reporting the Mari Luz Cortés case say she was suffocated to death, and then thrown into the water afterwards.

Reports from Spanish T.V.Telecinco has revealed what it calls the definitive results of the autopsy carried out on the body of the five year old
There has been new information in the Mari Luz Cortés case, the five year old girl from Huelva whose body was found in Ria de Huelva a week ago.Telecinco is reporting that the definitive results of the autopsy carried out on the child, which they say has proved that she was suffocated to death, and then thrown into the water afterwards. The autopsy concludes that the child died in the following 24 hours of her disappearance, and that the injuries to her head and ribs were also carried out before she died.The child’s father, Juan José Cortés, has called for time to ‘cry in silence’ andsays that he will fight to find who is responsible and to see them pay for what they have done.Police say they think a local person may have seen Mari Luz with her killer, but is too frightened to come forward.

Read more »

British girl arrested for drug trafficking in Morocco

A young English lady was arrested on Wednesday while trying to sail from the Tangiers Port (northern Morocco) for Algésiras (southern Spain) with 10 kg of chira (cannabis resin).The drug was found in a cache set up in the front of a Spanish-registered four-wheel drive vehicle, a Moroccan security source said without disclosing the identity of the British national.Some 70% of the processed kif (cannabis) in Europe comes from Morocco.

Read more »

Cocaine Brisbane

a Malaysian woman, 45, fronted Brisbane Magistrates’ Court charged with
attempting to smuggle almost 2kg of cocaine in the lining of a suitcase into Brisbane International
Airport on March 3. On February 26, a German builder, 29, appeared in a Brisbane court after cocaine was allegedly found impregnated in jeans and T-shirts when he arrived from New Zealand. A French woman, 21, was arrested in February trying to smuggle cocaine and heroin
valued at $500,000 into Australia inside three pairs of shoes. On January 6, a Canadian woman, 24, and a Canadian man, 43, were charged
in relation to about 10kg of cocaine found inside a false suitcase compartment when they arrived from Hong Kong

Read more »

Hermágoras Gonzales Polanco arrested suspected drugs and weapons smuggler

The Venezuelan police have arrested a suspected drugs and weapons smuggler wanted in the United States. The US authorities have offered a five million dollar reward for the arrest of Hermágoras Gonzales Polanco, who has ties with the Colombian Guajira cartel.He is suspected of smuggling large quantities of cocaine into the US and weapons, destined for paramilitary groups, from Europe into Colombia. Mr Gonzalez was arrested at the border with Colombia, together with 48 suspected paramilitaries.Washington has regularly accused Venezuela of doing too little to prevent the transport of drugs to the US.

Read more »

Pawel Gajowczyk caught with 1 million dollars in prescription medication and an estimated ¾ million dollars in counterfeit merchandise

50 year old Pawel Gajowczyk was pulled over just after 11 am by Trooper Chris Powers. He found that the truck’s manifest did not match up, according to FHP, and believed his merchandise may be stolen or counterfeit.Bradenton trucker pulled over for speeding on I-4 near Orlando Sunday was caught with 1 million dollars in prescription medication and an estimated ¾ million dollars in counterfeit merchandise, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Troopers spent several hours unloading the trailer, and arrested Gajowczyk for with possession of counterfeit merchandise and trafficking of narcotics with intent to deliver and sell.

Read more »

Seized a total of 129kg of hashish destined for Algeciras, Spain

Customs authorities at Tangier port foiled three drug trafficking attempts on Sunday (March 9th) and Monday, MAP reported. Officials seized a total of 129kg of hashish destined for Algeciras, Spain. The largest single shipment of 66kg was found in the vehicle of a Moroccan citizen living in Belgium. Authorities seized some 35 tonnes of hashish in Tangier in 2007, an increase of 26% over 2006. In related news, Algerian press reported that on Monday police discovered more than 15 hectares cultivated with cannabis and opium in Ajdir, Adrar province. Security forces reportedly arrested eight suspects, in part for allegations that some of the farmers involved had benefited from state funds through the land-reclamation programme.

Read more »

Andre Williams died from a heart attack caused by drugs following a beach party in Algeciras

A post-mortem examination found Andre Williams, from Splott, Cardiff, died from a heart attack caused by drugs following a beach party in Algeciras, near Malaga, in the early hours of August 8 last year.packages thought to contain drugs were found inside a 27-year-old-man who died in Spain, an inquest heard yesterday.A total of 13 cylinders were discovered inside Mr Williams’s body, Cardiff Coroner’s Court was told.Mr Williams’s mother told the court that her son had been generally healthy but had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart and a hole-in-the-heart at the age of 18 months. The court also heard that Mr Williams smoked cannabis every day and took Class A drugs on a regular basis.A toxicology report showed that MDMA, amphetamine, metamphetamine and cannabis were found in his bloodstream.
Mary Hassell, coroner for Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, said, “I want to know if he just took too many drugs or if in reality he was what is known as a drugs mule.”Ms Hassell adjourned her verdict in order to obtain more information from the Spanish authorities.

Read more »

Málaga and Fuengirola National Police Chief Inspectors and Inspectors arrested by internal affairs

Spanish police have detained four police officers, including three chiefs responsible for fighting organized crime, on charges of several criminal offences, police said Wednesday. The four worked on the southern Costa del Sol coast, which is known for the presence of numerous international criminal rings. The three chiefs were based in Malaga, Marbella and Fuengirola. The officers were suspected of keeping objects they had confiscated from criminals, making illegal house searches and revealing confidential information to outsiders. One of them was already awaiting trial on charges of helping an Italian drug trafficker flee. An entrepreneur and an interpreter were also held. The affair was "painful and delicate," because it affected the reputation of the national police force, government delegate Hilario Lopez Luna said.
Senior official Antonio Camacho stressed that police themselves had discovered the alleged irregularities in their midst. The National Police internal affairs unit has arrested four National Policemen and two other people in Málaga and Fuengirola. The team moved into several offices of the main provincial police station in Málaga yesterday evening, according to El Mundo. The paper says that several police chiefs have complained about ‘the bad way’ in which the arrests were carried out.All those police arrested are Inspectors or Chief Inspectors belong to the specialist drug and organised crime unit UDYCO, and are accused of corruption and the crime of revealing confidential information obtained during police activity.The previous head of the UDYCO unit on the Costa del Sol, Valentín Bahut, was replaced a year ago after being charged with not following uip on certain crimes linked to a police informer, an Italian based in Benalmádena, Marco Torello Rollero. He finally faced 18 months in prison in that case, with an 11 year ban on holding public office.The Internal Affairs Unit in Málaga has arrested four high ranking police officers assigned to the specialist UDYCO (drugs and organised crime) section of the National Police on the Costa del Sol.The arrests have come after a two year investigation into alleged ‘irregularities’ during the conducting of house searches. One of those arrested is a Chief Inspector, the other three are Inspectors and all have long and distinguished careers in the UDYCO-Costa del Sol.Also arrested in connection with the case are two private individuals, one a civilian interpreter for the police, the other a businessman in Marbella.The detainees allegedly appropriated assets during the carrying out of house searches and also leaked confidential information. In addition, the investigators are trying to establish whether the arrested men were connected to a network trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution.

Read more »

Attempted Child Snatch on Costa Blanca

Adele Spencer, 28, fought off two intruders who tried to snatch her toddler daughter in Spain.Telling how she fought off the Moroccan-looking women when they broke into her home and tried to take 18-month old Annabelle from her high-chair.The incident came just three days after another British family in the same town were targeted. Yesterday it was claimed the family of missing Madeleine McCann were keen to find out more about the cases.
Miss Spencer said: "If I had been 10 seconds later she would have been gone. I'm just thankful I managed to get to Annabelle in time to save her.
"I never thought we would come close to suffering the same fate as Madeleine's parents. You read about horrific stories like theirs but you don't expect it to happen to you."The drama happened just after 3pm on Tuesday. The hairdresser was alone with her daughter in her rented home in Moraira, Costa Blanca.She had left Annabelle asleep in her high chair and was hanging up clothes in an adjoining bedroom while her fiancé Carl was at work.She said: "I thought it was Annabelle wakingup but when I went in to see her two Moroccan-looking women were standing over her, one on either side."They had taken her blanket from her and were about to try to lift Annabelle out of her chair. My legs buckled under me at first and I felt like I was going to be sick with the shock. But suddenly I came round and I just started screaming over and over, 'Get out of my house, get out of my house'.
"They started walking backwards slowly towards the door and the next minute, I threw myself at the older woman. I lunged at her face and throat as I tried to push her out of the house."
Spanish police are said to be linking the attempted kidnap to a separate bid to snatch a three-year-old British boy in the same town.
Her fiancé, from Leeds, added: "What has happened to Madeleine is awful and it so nearly happened to us. No other parent should have to go through that suffering."

Read more »

Drugs trafficking La Línea couple

National Police in La Línea have arrested a married couple on drugs trafficking charges. They have also been accused of abandoning their two young children who have been taken into care. In the raid police confiscated drugs including hashish and cocaine, a Smith & Wesson pistol plus a variety of other guns with ammunition as well as 9,240 euros in cash.

Read more »

Hamburger bars and nightclubs gang that allegedly sold cocaine in Torremolinos and Málaga

Seven people have been arrested in the break-up of a gang that allegedly sold cocaine in hamburger bars and nightclubs in Torremolinos and Málaga. The initial arrests were made when Guardia Civil officers caught four of the gang members red-handed, doing a deal at a Churriana burger restaurant, according to officials. The three additional arrests followed.

Read more »

Coín man was arrested last week for allegedly fondling and kissing a 10-year-old deaf girl

A Coín man was arrested last week for allegedly fondling and kissing a 10-year-old deaf girl. The arrest occurred after officers arrived at the scene of a fight, where several local residents had attacked the accused, who is also deaf, for his alleged assault on the young girl. He has been released pending trial, with a restraining order prohibiting him from being near the victim.

Read more »

Spanish national arrested on 33 occasions

National Police in Benidorm have arrested a man in connection with a series of robberies from cars.A police spokesman said the man, a Spanish national, was picked up after more than 20 vehicles had side windows broken and contents stolen.
He added that the detainee had been arrested on 33 other occasions for similar offences.National police have also arrested a man following a break in at a British owned bar. He has been accused of forcing entry in the premises early on the morning of February 26.

Read more »

Death of a young woman whose body was found near an abandoned van

Police are investigating the death of a young woman whose body was found near an abandoned van with Austrian licence plates close to the Segura river estuary in Guardamar del Segura (Alicante) earlier today. The woman's identity has not been confirmed though she seems to have been in her late twenties. A first inspection of the reveals no obvious signs of violence though an autopsy will be performed to confirm cause of death

Read more »

1.5 metric tons cocaine destined for Spain

Peruvian police made their biggest cocaine seizure in almost three years, impounding 1.5 metric tons destined for Spain. The shipment was intercepted off the country's northern coast, Interior Minister Luis Alva Castro told reporters today in Lima. Police arrested four Ecuadoreans and seized weapons, vehicles and communications equipment, he said. Police have confiscated 5.6 tons of cocaine so far this year, almost equivalent to the Andean country's average annual seizures, Police Chief Octavio Salazar said. The most recent operation netted the biggest haul since police uncovered a 2.2- ton shipment in 2005. Peru is the world's second-largest producer of coca leaf, the basis of cocaine.

Read more »

Mari Luz Cortés DNA testing has now confirmed the identification 100%.

It’s understood that the autopsy has now been completed, and the judge will decide whether to release the results to the press as the investigation remains governed by secrecy. Luis Molina, spokesman for the Cortés family, told journalists that the family has no information on the results, and added that there has been no confirmation of reports in the media that the five year old died within 24 hours of her disappearance. He called on the press to refrain from giving any information which could later turn out to be false.
DNA testing has confirmed that the badly decomposed body found floating in the Ría de Huelva -the common estuary of the Tinto and Odiel Rivers - on Friday afternoon, is that of Mari Luz Cortés, the five year old girl who disappeared in the city on 13th January. She went missing after leaving her home in the El Torrejón district of Huelva for a short trip to the local sweets kiosk, and her body was found near the Cepsa refinery installations by a Cepsa employee, still dressed in the same clothes she was wearing when she was last seen. Mari Luz’s father, Juan José Cortés, identified his daughter’s body on Friday, but the DNA testing has now confirmed the identification 100%.

Read more »

Arrested 24 people in a swoop against copyright infringement

National Police have arrested 24 people in a swoop against copyright infringement across Spain, denominated ‘Operation Búho’. Those detained are allegedly linked to a network which installed pirate software on hardware sold from shops across the country in a fraud estimated to be worth more than 200,000 €.Investigations are based in 14 companies, and 11 searches have been carried out, two in Madrid, four in Barcelona, three in Andalucía and two in Murcia. Police say as many as 750 products, sold on CD and DVD are affected by the fraud. They are investigating whether so-called ‘malware’ was also installed, programs which could reveal the data on the machine to third parties.

Read more »

Reports that a body found in the river close to Huelva is that of Mari Luz

The Guardia Civil have confirmed that Five year old Mari Luz, missing from Huelva since she left her home in the El Torrejón area of the city on 13th January for a short trip to the local sweets kiosk, has been found dead. El Mundo said her body was found on Friday evening in Huelva province in the Torrearenilla marshland, in a river close to the Cepsa refinery installations, by an employee of the petroleum company. It’s understood that Mari Luz’s body was found with the clothes she was wearing when she disappeared , and that her body was badly decomposed.
There was news just last week that the family of the five year old had received a ransom demand for two million euros, via an anonymous caller who demanded the money to release the child.While it was thought to be a hoax, the family said they were prepared to negotiate in the case of serious calls. Mari Luz’s uncle, Diego Cortés, said at the time that the family would personally go to rescue his niece if necessary, but said they would only be able to raise around 300,000 €.
El Mundo said Mari Luz’s parents, Juan José Cortés and Irene Suárez, had arrived at the scene to identify their daughter’s body, and that Juan José López Garzón, the central government delegate for Andalucía, was also en route to the site where Mari Luz’s body was found.

Read more »

773kg of hashish hidden in a car bound for Spain

The customs officers of the port of Tangier, north, seized on Thursday some 773kg of hashish hidden in a car bound for Algesiras, southern Spain, MAP learnt here.
The driver and the passenger, aged 21 and 22, were arrested and the investigation so far showed that the drug, worth Euro 3Mn, was intended for the French market.Last week customs officers intercepted a truck bound for France with two metric tons of hashish onboard. Hashish catches in 2007 amounted to some 35 tons, while tens of drug smugglers from different nationalities were arrested during the year

Read more »

Richard Davison is currently on bail in Spain which prevents him from leaving the country

Richard Davison and Ellen George, of Colville Road, Lowestoft, ran Crompton Marine at Lowestoft where they built powerful inflatable boats.The couple who ran a Suffolk boatbuilding business and had more than £1 million stashed at their home had been supplying boats to international drugs smugglers, a court has heard.
.It is alleged the radar-evading boats - which could carry massive loads of cannabis and still outrun the authorities - would be sold and transported to southern Europe where they would be used by drug smugglers.The details emerged at Ipswich Crown Court yesterdayin the trial of 43-year-old Ian Rush, of Brand End Road, Butterwick, Lincolnshire.Rush was friends with Davison and George and worked at Crompton Marine initially as a transport driver, the court was told.He has denied two charges of conspiracy to assist another person to retain the benefits of drug trafficking and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.Davison and George were arrested on March 25, 2004 as part of a joint Anglo-Spanish criminal investigation into suspected money laundering offences.A search at the couple's Lowestoft home found more than £1.25 million in cash held in a safe and a holdall as well as false documents. A search of Davison's address in Spain revealed the existence of 500,000 in euros and £49,000 in cash.It is alleged that between 1998 and the couple's arrest on March 25, 2004 he transported boats to southern Europe, often Spain, knowing that the purchaser of the boats wanted them to run drugs and other contraband from the north coast of Africa to the southern coast of Spain.It is also alleged that following Davison's and George's arrest, Rush set up a new company called Nautexco Marine to continue selling boats to the drug smugglers.Simon Draycott QC told the jury: “Rush, Davison and George knew full well that the purchasers of these boats wanted them for one reason only and that was to run drugs and other contraband from the north coast of Africa to the southern coast of Spain. “These types of boats were in great demand by drug smugglers. They could outrun any Spanish police boat, they were difficult to detect on radar and they could carry substantial amounts of drugs.”The jury was also read an email which was sent by George in 2002 which read: “We specialise in very high speed, uncatchable craft that have an extremely low radar signature, that work between North Africa and Spain.”In 2006, George admitted money laundering and possession of around £1m in criminal proceeds.
Davison is currently on bail in Spain which prevents him from leaving the country, with investigations against him continuing, the court heard.The trial of Rush continues today

Read more »

Mystery of the deserted boat with 2.4 tons of cannabis

A Civil Guard patrol at the mouth of the Guadalquivir in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on Tuesday morning came up with an unexpected discovery, a boat left close to shore, loaded with more than two tons of cannabis resin. La Voz Digital said there were 78 packages on board, making up a total of 2.4 tons.
The 12-metre inflatable speedboat was fitted with three powerful engines, and would have allowed the smugglers to make the trip from Morocco in a very short time, the paper said. There was no sign of any of the crew.

Read more »

Gang of drug dealers who were arrested in Torrevieja

Gang of drug dealers who were arrested in Torrevieja last month passed themselves off as police officers to steal from other gangs who were trying to smuggle the drugs into Spain. The Civil Guard also say they were part of a much larger organisation which has been under investigation since last June, when almost a ton of cannabis was found in a Torrevieja garage inside a stolen car.
Dubbed Operation Julo, the investigation has led to a total of 29 arrests since then and close to seven tons of cannabis confiscated by the authorities, together with six stolen top-range vehicles, thousands in cash, and weapons and other items worth more than half a million euros.Seventeen of the suspects are Spaniards, EFE said.
They operated in a number of Spanish provinces, and one of their main leaders was arrested with 13 other suspects in Murcia this January in La Manga del Mar Menor.

Read more »

Nordine H.S smuggled 150 pellets to Cádiz inside his stomach

A man from Ceuta has beaten the national record in Spain for the amount of cannabis pellets carried in his stomach. He was arrested coming out of a Cádiz hotel this weekend, having smuggled 150 pellets inside his stomach. La Voz Digital gave the previous record as 128.smuggled 150 pellets to Cádiz inside his stomach The paper said Nordine H.S. was arrested in port in Algeciras last year with more than two kilos of cannabis strapped to his body, and had been under surveillance since this January, since when he had made another four trips over to Cádiz from Ceuta. The 35 year old is reported to have sold the drugs on in the city and in Fuengirola, on the Costa del Sol.He has now been remanded to custody.

Read more »

Enforced sex workers in Guardamar del Segura

National Police told news agency EFE that the criminal organisation entrapped women in Romania and forced them to work in clubs in Alicante province.Three men and two women, all from Romania, were arrested this week in Guardamar del Segura for belonging to a gang that carries out robberies and sexually exploits young compatriots.Their enquiries also led them to believe that the group was also carrying out robberies and burglaries.Officers first detained two men, one aged 36 and known as Spiraque, who is believed to be the leader of the group and another aged 23.Later they detained the third man aged 18, and two women, both aged 21.
One of the women was working in the club Nancy and the other had previously been working in the club Iris in La Marina, but had stopped as she was in an advanced state of pregnancy.Amongst the goods confiscated from the property in Guardamar was a diamond-tipped glass cutter for making holes in windows.The suspects were put at the disposition of a judge in Torrevieja.

Read more »

British man was arrested for allegedly attempting to abuse children

A British man was arrested on Saturday evening at Entre Naranjos urbanisation in Orihuela for allegedly attempting to abuse children.News agency EFE reported that according to the regional supreme court, the suspect was sent to prison on Tuesday on charges of sexual abuse against children and refused bail.They noted that he also has previous criminal convictions for paedophilia offences in Britain.
A Spanish press report also alleges that British police alerted Interpol that the suspect faces an outstanding charge for which he could face extradition to the UK.
Residents from Entre Naranjos told CB News that the man was seen near a playground in a public green area with a group of children between the ages of three and six.
The children later alleged he had been touching them.The residents stated that one young child alleged he was sitting on the man’s knee and that he had given him beer to drink.A woman went to confront the suspect and he briskly walked away from the scene, taking several turnings down backstreets.The residents had already called the police and a group of locals managed to locate the individual and detain him until officers arrived and arrested him.A parent of one of the children said that he was reassured by the vigilance and quick action of members of his community, which may have prevented the incident from potentially having been more serious.He also said he was pleased and surprised by the swift response of the police and the action of the judicial services.Although residents say the suspect has lived in the neighbourhood since 2004, there had never been any reports of concern about his behaviour previously, although one neighbour alleged that the man had been seen taking photos of children in the playground two weeks previously.A number of paedophiles who had flown their country of origin were arrested in the Vega Baja last year.Two British men who were on the run from UK police were detained in Torrevieja at the end of August.One was classed as a high-risk sex offender who had been convicted for abusing children.Both men were sent to Madrid for extradition to the UK.

Read more »

Roy Davis ,Mark Griffiths If found guilty of the murder and attempted murder the two men face up to 25 years in prison under Spain’s penal code.

Two Midlands men being held in custody in the UK are about to be extradited to Spain to face charges over the decade-old murder of 35-year-old Briton Yuri Slivinska.

The victim was killed at his Benidorm home on August 21, 1996, and the arrested men will also be questioned over the attempted murder of his mother Eva Slivinska.
The two men, Roy Davis aged 59 and Mark Griffiths, 37, tried unsuccessfully to stop the extradition claiming that it would be oppressive and unjust to send them back to Spain, but a judge at Westminster Magistrates court ruled that they could be extradited.
His decision was backed at the High Court in London by Lord Justice Moses sitting with Mr Justice Sullivan, who both rejected an appeal against the extradition.
At the time of the murder, police investigating the case believed thieves had entered the property and were surprised by Mr Slivinska and his mother.
He was stabbed repeatedly in the back and chest and his mother was left for dead with a deep stab wound to the chest.
Despite falling into a coma, Mrs Slivinska survived the vicious assault and since then has been waiting for the day when the men accused of the crime would stand trial.
As the investigation into the slaying continued, Mr Davis was questioned by police but was released without charge, he then left Spain.
Spanish police now claim that Davis paid Griffiths and two other men 10,000 pounds to kill Mr Slivinska but have not revealed the motive behind it.
If found guilty of the murder and attempted murder the two men face up to 25 years in prison under Spain’s penal code.

Read more »

Important drugs capture on a beach in Mijas

reports of an important drugs haul on a beach in Mijas, Málaga province, where Civil Guard seized close to a ton of cannabis resin on a beach near Cabo Pino in the early hours of Sunday. Two Moroccans and a Spaniard were caught in the act as they were unloading 990 kilos of the drug into two waiting vehicles.

Read more »

Motorist he had no driving licence and that he was also drunk

Motorist who drove on the wrong side of the A-7 motorway for 15 kilometres before he was stopped in the early hours of Sunday has been remanded to custody after appearing before a judge in Elche. The Crevillent Civil Guard warned other drivers along the way as they followed him from kilometre 724 as far as 739, and it was later found that he had no driving licence and that he was also drunk.The Información newspaper said he was six times over the legal limit, and that he told officers that he had no idea he was on the wrong side of the road until he was pulled over.He is due to appear in court on 11th March and faces a fine of more than 3,000 € and three years inside

Read more »

Anthony C charged with keeping a Polish woman captive

A 31 year old man named by El Mundo newspaper as Anthony C. from the UK has been arrested by police on Mallorca, charged with keeping a Polish woman captive for two years. The paper said he met her in Porto Colom in May 2006, where she had arrived at the age of 22 to work in the tourist sector for the season, and that he had been holding her against her will ever since then, locking her inside the house when he went out.

Read more »

Tonight programme

The Tonight programme, does not make any reference whatsoever to the death of a Scottish man who died after he was mugged in Benidorm town centre last December. We strongly refute any suggestion that we have “hidden interests” in trying to damage the city’s image.The programme does not focus on the Benidorm tourist resort but predominantly looks at crime against expats who have moved inland from the coast to more remote areas. The programme reflects the genuine concerns and experiences of British expats that have been victims of home invasions and burglaries; and includes interviews with local journalists and crime writers on the Eastern European gangs targeting parts of Spain.It is a balanced report that also refers to the successful efforts by Spanish police to combat crime in some areas of the Costas and comments by the Mayor of Torrevieja that offences have fallen by 40 per cent. Our report also includes a statement from the Spanish embassy that says that the rate of criminality in Spain is below the average of the European Union and below that of the UK.”

Read more »

Spain is the biggest drug emporium in the world

US State Department has come out with a report identifying Spain as the biggest drug emporium in the world. It's the highway for cocaine entering the EU from Latin America and hashish coming in from Morocco. 3% of Spaniards use cocaine regularly; one in five European coke users is Spanish. Spain has a higher percentage of users of not only cocaine, but also hash and designer drugs, than any other European country.

Read more »