Antonio Caiazzo, 50, of Camorra mafia's Vomero clan, and Francesco Simeoli, 40, were arrested Monday night as they left a restaurant

Antonio Caiazzo, 50, of Camorra mafia's Vomero clan, and Francesco Simeoli, 40, were arrested Monday night as they left a restaurant in the suburb of Majadahonda, Italian and Spanish police said.Their capture follows a series of arrests highlighting the intense activity of the Italian mafia in Spain, which has become a big illegal drug market for the rest of Europe and a haven for money laundering.Caiazzo hid in Spain as "today it is the main international crossroads for the trafficking of hashish and cocaine," Vittorio Pisani, a Naples police official, told the ANSA news agency.Caiazzo had been on the run since March 2007 after being sentenced...

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Police are now searching for three suspects in connection with the shooting of Richard Keogh.

Police are now searching for three suspects in connection with the shooting. A garda liaison officer based in Madrid is travelling to the Costa del Sol today to co-ordinate co-operation between the gardai and local officers.Keogh was shot dead by members of a rival drugs gang outside a casino in the tourist resort of Benalmadena on Saturday night. Shortly before the murder, Keogh had been drinking with a group of associates in an Irish bar in the resort.Spanish police initially interviewed the group as witnesses to pin down Keogh's movements and then arrested one of them, a South American man who was wanted there for alleged drug offences.Officers...

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UPDATED: Richard Keogh fled Ireland just over a year ago after he was wounded in a gun attack has been shot dead in southern Spain.

Richard Keogh fled Ireland just over a year ago after he was wounded in a gun attack has been shot dead in southern Spain. The organised crime unit of the Spanish police is investigating the murder of Richard Keogh (30), from Cabra in Dublin. Security sources in Spain say the killing is believed to be drugs related. Keogh, a father of four children aged between two and nine years, was wounded several times after at least 10 shots were fired in a drive-by shooting in Benalmadena Costa near Marbella. He was walking along a pavement with this wife at about 11.35pm on Saturday when a car pulled up and at least one occupant opened fire. Keogh collapsed on the pavement outside the Torrequebrada Hotel. The dead man is originally from Carnlough Road, Cabra, but in recent years had settled with his...

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Richard Keogh murdered in Gangland shooting outside the casino in Benalmadena

Dublin gangster Richard Keogh has been killed in a gangland-style shooting in Spain.He was shot outside a casino in Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol at around 11pm last night.Keogh was known to the gardaí for his suspected involvement in drug trafficking and it is understood he was a target of the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Garda National Drugs and the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency.Originally from Carnlough Road in Cabra, he moved to Spain two years ago after a previous attempt on his life in Duleen, Co Louth.According to reports, the father-of-four died after a car pulled up and a gunman fired at least 10 shots at him.It happened in the Avenida del Sol at 2320 on Saturday night, and the National Police has opened a full investigation. A passerby saw the body on the ground next to the...

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Las Palmas rapist,found hanged

Las Palmas rapist, or the White Van rapist, Miguel Ángel M.R. who was accused on 22 counts of the crime, was found hanged in the baths of the El Salto de El Negro jail in Las Palmas on Thursday afternoon.His body was found by one of the three other inmates who are granted their exercise time together, separate from the main group of prisoners. Prison sources said they could not say whether his death was a murder or a suicide.He had been arrested on September 11 after a two year long prison investigation, and was being held on remand waiting for his trial. 11 women had identified him as their attack...

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Bank robbery at the CAM savings bank in Avenida de Novelda in Elche

Two people have been arrested by National and Local Police after a bank robbery at noon yesterday at an office of the CAM savings bank in Avenida de Novelda in Elche.They had used a fake gun and a large knife to carry out the attack at 1230. There were no injuries in the incident, save for a woman who had to be taken to a local health centre after suffering an anxiety atta...

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Fernando Moreno was victim of ‘express kidnapping’ abandoned white van with British number plates found

Fernando Moreno ran a family construction business, founded some 40 years ago. He was last seen at 10am on Wednesday morning and family members reported him missing that same morning, reportedly fearing that he may have been kidnapped. They then received a phone call from a person with a Latin American accent who demanded two million € for the businessman, and throughout the day there were more calls in which the amount demanded was reduced. The final call at 1600 on Wednesday demanded 600,000 €. The phone then went silent until 2200 when the kidnappers said they had released the businessman ‘close to the Ojén reservoir’.Police say they think he was victim of a so called ‘express kidnapping’ and were also investigating an abandoned white van with British number plates found in the area of...

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Spanish crime gang used an Irish trawler to land €850,000 of cannabis

€850,000 of cannabis that was seized in Dingle last year was smuggled into the country by a Spanish crime gang using an Irish trawler.At Tralee Circuit Criminal Court on Monday Ignacio Goyeneche with an address in San Tando, Spain, and Lisa Basire of Scanlon’s Cottage, Ballyhea were jailed for their part in the massive drugs seizure in Dingle last July.Cannabis, worth €850,000 was found by gardaí in early morning raids in different locations in the Dingle area on July 8 last. The majority was found at Lisa Basire’s bedsit, the rest in Mr Goyeneche’s car. Both pleaded guilty to ‘possession for sale or supply’ of the drugs Judge Carroll Moran sentenced Ignacio Goyeneche to seven years in prison and Lisa Basire to three years. In the course of the trial, details emerged of how the huge haul was...

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UPDATED:Spanish police seize fake and stolen Dalís at a hotel in the southern Costa del Sol region.

Spanish police are seeking the owner of a £1.1m bronze elephant, possibly sculpted by Salvador Dalí, that was stolen with a major haul of work purportedly created by the mustachioed master of the so-called paranoid-critical method.The three-metre-high elephant was impounded with 81 works that had been on display at a hotel in the southern Costa del Sol region. It was not clear whether the pieces were stolen, genuine or fakes.The works, which included sculpture, bas reliefs, lithographs, textiles, furniture and cutlery had been transported to the hotel in Estepona from France and were due to be auctioned there. The asking price for the elephant sculpture, believed to be a work known as the Space Elephant, was €1.2m (£1.1m) .Police said they were investigating reports from around the world that...

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Neil Davison is currently at large having been arrested on a European arrest warrant in February 2008.

Neil Davison, also known as Richard Neil Davison, was taken into custody almost five years ago when Spanish customs officers swooped as part of a large-scale operation with their Suffolk counterparts.The bid to smash the multi-million pound drugs racket netted 16 other suspects in Malaga, Nerja and Estepona, who were alleged to be involved in the trafficking operation.Around 70 Spanish officers carried out the raids aimed at preventing drugs being smuggled from north Africa to Spain.However, despite his arrest in March 2004 Davison, who ran a boat-building company in Lowestoft, has yet to stand trial.After being released pending further inquiries, Davison skipped bail during the intervening years. He was apprehended again last year after a warrant was put out for his arrest.Despite fleeing...

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Arrested five Britons in the Costa Del Sol and Tenerife

Police have arrested five Britons in the Costa Del Sol and Tenerife, and confiscated assets believed to be worth as much as twelve million euros after accusing the entire group of being involved in the distribution of the drug 'speed'. The investigation started after 70 Kilos of speed was found in a truck in Oxford, that had been sent by the group from Belgium. Amongst the assets confiscated were: a duplex apartment in Marbella of over 300 square metres; nineteen other pieces of real estate; various bank accounts, and several Porsches, Hummers, Mercedes and Ferraris as well as two luxury yachts. What apparently drew the attention of the police...

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Castellón confiscated over two kilos of cocaine

Guardia Civil in Castellón have detained some seven people - five Spaniards, a Columbian and a Venezuelan - and accused them of forming a drugs syndicate that bought, transformed and sold cocaine in the province. After the arrests, police confiscated over two kilos of cocaine as well as a large amount of acetone that is used to transform the drug for its commercial sa...

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Man accused of three murders and several robberies, who has been on the run since 2004, has been arrested in Fuengirola.

Man accused of three murders and several robberies, who has been on the run since 2004, has been arrested in Fuengirola.A local police patrol from Mijas tried to identify the man who was driving a top of the range car, but before being questioned he drove off. A police car chase ensued ending with his arrest, according to a press release from Mijas Town Hall. The man was armed at the time and in the company of a wom...

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Drug-related settling of scores body of a chopped up man has been found in an abandoned suitcase

body of a chopped up man has been found in an abandoned suitcase on waste ground in Benimaclet, Valencia.A passerby saw the suitcase and called the Local Police to the scene in Calle Mistral at 6pm on Tuesday night. They advised the National Police once they saw the suitcase contained the chopped up male body, which is still to be identified. Police think a drug-related settling of scores is the most likely motive for the cri...

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Raids in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol, and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, resulted in the Britons being arrested.

Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39, both from Glasgow, were detained following police raids in November. Londoners Stephen Denis Brown, 42 and Brian Rawlings, 63, were also arrested in a joint operation with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. The men are expected to spend several months in prison before facing trial at the National Criminal Court in Madrid. The operation also resulted in the arrest of Gerard Mooney, from Dublin, in October 2008. It is alleged that a truck that he was driving to Scotland contained 70kg of speed when it was stopped by police near Oxford. The subsequent raids in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol, and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, resulted in the Britons being arrested. The money laundering charges relate to the seizure of property in Spain...

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Settling of scores between drug dealers

While out walking in Novelda a man came across the body of a man of around 30 years . The man had been dumped at the side of a pathway close to the castle and alongside the river Vinalopo.The police were called and the man was quickly identified who was a known criminal and had a police record for drug trafficking .The body showed signs of violence and he had also been shot in the face .Early indications point to a settling of scores between drug dealers as a motive for the murder.The victim was well known to the police and the GuardiaCivil in the area . Three years ago he was arrested while driving a van containing 100 kg of hashish . He was also part of a gang who kidnapped a nightclub owner in Sax...

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Police have found 11 tons of hashish hidden in two garages in the Avenida de la Innovación in Sevilla.

Police have found 11 tons of hashish hidden in two garages in the Avenida de la Innovación in Sevilla. It’s the largest amount of drugs to be found in the city for the past decade, one of the largest found in Spain, and is valued at 16 million €.National Police say the drug was packed into 361 bales, and was found after they were in chase of a member of a drug-trafficking organization.Named as 32 year old Benjamín R.R he was arrested along with one other who is thought to have been purchasing some of the drug although its thought the main destination for it was the countries of the north of Euro...

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Drug Smuggling gang 28 years and nine months prison has been handed down in total

Prison sentences have been confirmed against nine people who were found guilty of transporting as much as 2,000 kilos of hashish to Dénia. A total of 28 years and nine months has been handed down in total to the none, most of them serving some three years inside. The group brought a haul of 2,000 kilos of the drug from Melilla to Dénia in an operation which was organized from Málaga, and intercepted by the police on the Dénia bea...

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Malaga University carried out 1300 ” victimisation Surveys ”

Malaga University has done a piece of research into the reporting of crime by members of the public and compared the results with the statistics which are published by the authorities .The team carried out 1300 ” victimisation Surveys ” on 2005 asking members of the public if they had been the victims of crimes such as car theft , having something stolen from a car , being threatened , sexual assault and having their homes burgled .Sixty six percent or two out of every three said that they had been victims of such crimes but only 41% said that they had reported the incidents.The reluctance to report them might be that they didn’t trust the system , were embarrassed or they might have been too scared to do so .Damage to vehicles was the most common crime , yet it was the least reported while...

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Salvatore Zazo leader of the Mazzarella crime family captured in Barcelona

Italy's paramilitary Carabinieri police working with Spain's Civil Guard arrested Salvatore Zazo as he was making a phone call in a shop in Barcelona on Saturday.Italian police say a Neapolitan fugitive wanted on drug trafficking charges has been captured in Barcelona.Italian police official Angelo Mazzagatti said on Sunday that an arrest warrant had been issued for Zazo a few months ago. He said Zazo, 52, was suspected of international trafficking in cocaine.Investigators say they believe Zazo has been leading the Mazzarella crime family in the historic center of Naples. It is part of the Camorra criminal syndicate.Police say authorities will...

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Local man has been sentenced by the Málaga Provincial Court to 18 years in prison for killing another in a bar in San Pedro

Local man has been sentenced by the Málaga Provincial Court to 18 years in prison for killing another in a bar in San Pedro de Alcántara in September 2006.It apparently started when the two men collided by mistake in the bar, with the aggressor then going to his home to get a knife and returning to the bar to stab the other man who died the following day.The aggressor was also found guilty of attempting to kill the victim’s friend, stabbing him from the back. After the aggression the man went back home and then went to the Local Police with his mother. He had claimed he only wanted to frighten the other men with his knife. The court heard that the man was considered to be emotionally unstable and also ordered him to pay 250,000 € in compensati...

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Spain's anticorruption prosecutor has opened an investigation into Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud

Spain's anticorruption prosecutor has opened an investigation into Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud, which may cost clients of Banco Santander, the nation's largest lender and the owner of US-based Sovereign Bancorp, $3.1 billion.The probe began last month, said an official at the prosecutor's office who asked not to be identified.Santander said on Dec. 14 that customers were at risk from investments with Madoff through its Optimal Investment Services hedge fund unit.Madoff's New York-based firm collapsed in December after he told his sons it was a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, according to a complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation."Santander has been very transparent about its exposure to Madoff," said Luis Benguerel, a trader at Interbrokers Espanola SA in Barcelona. "Santander...

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Sir Steve Redgrave invested in a £2million off-plan villa on Royal Marbella Group in return for a discount on the property

Trio of sporting stars who backed property developments in Spain with their own money and persuaded other British Fly to Let investors to do the same, are now counting the cost after the schemes were scrapped.The Daily Mail carried the story of how five-time Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave, 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst, and former England World Cup rugby star Tony Underwood were all endorsers and investors in the Royal Marbella Group, which later became the Royal Duja Group.Some of Royal Duja's projects, such as Royal Cabanas in the Algarve, where other well known names, such as Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, invested, did go ahead....

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Guardia Civil officers arrested two people caught trying to smuggle 6.5kg of cocaine

Guardia Civil officers at Tenerife’s north airport arrested two people caught trying to smuggle 6.5kg of cocaine into the island. The couple, identified only by their initials, have been charged with crimes against the public health.The man, 24-year-old D.A.M.B and his female companion, 35-year-old D.R.A., both Uruguayan nationals, arrived on a flight from mainland Spain.After police became suspicious of the pair they were questioned, which raised suspicions even more and led to a body search, which revealed the drugs strapped to their bodies.Police also discovered a large quantity of money and the pair have been detained without bail pending...

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Guardia Civil officers arrested two Estonian men

Guardia Civil officers arrested two Estonian men, aged 23 and 24, at TFS on Friday for carrying 1,793 grams, almost 2 kilos, of cocaine inside their bodies. Agents became suspicious at the high level of nervousness in the two at routine airport clearance checks, and they were even more suspicious when searches of the men’s luggage found nothing. The pair were taken to have X-rays, and both were found to be carrying capsules. After these were evacuated, it was discovered that the first man was carrying 92 capsules containing 1,012 grams of cocaine, and the other 71 containing 781 grams. They are now being judicially process...

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Seized 4,400 kilos of hashish from a yacht flying the British flag

Seized 4,400 kilos of hashish from a yacht flying the British flag off the coast of Torrevieja early last Friday morning and arrested the two crew members. Antonio L.R., aged 37, is a Spaniard with previous convictions for drug smuggling, and Daniel D.D., 28, is a North African who was carrying French identification and a British passport as well. Customs had spotted the craft during the afternoon on New Year's Day sailing 12 miles out to sea and considering it ‘suspicious', sent the Arao patrol boat to investigate. Provincial customs and excise department chief Arturo Marcos said that it had been sailing very slowly with its lights turned off. The yacht, a 12-metre-long vessel called the Masquerade, changed course and officers decided to carry out a search when it entered Spanish waters....

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Arrested by police on the Costa del Sol Rolf Dieter-Glaetzner

Rolf Dieter-Glaetzner absconded prior to a scheduled Edinburgh High Court appearance and spent more than six years on the run before his re-arrest in Spain.47-year-old German national accused of sexually abusing two young girls in Scotland, skipped bail in the UK and has been arrested by police on the Costa del Sol, Spain, it was confirmed on Thursday.Detectives indicate that the fugitive will now face extradition proceedings. Charges against him in Scotland include a series of violent sexual assaults on two girls, aged six and seven at the time.Dieter-Glaetzner appeared initially at Stirling Sheriff Court in October of 2001, and was granted bail.He subsequently broke conditions of his bail, returning to his native Germany where he remained for about one year.When he returned to Scotland in...

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Leónidas Vargas Vargas has been shot dead in his bed of a Madrid hospital

Colombian drug trafficker has been shot dead in his bed of a Madrid hospital. Leónidas Vargas Vargas received four shots from a pistol with a silencer after an individual entered his room in the 12 de Octubre Hospital at 8pm last night. There were two people in room 543 and the assassin asked first which one was Vargas.Police consider the shooting is almost certainly a settling of scores, with Vargas known as ‘El Viejo’ and to be linked to the Medellín drugs cartel. He was arrested in 2006 but was now granted release because of a lung problem. Police are now studying security tapes to see if the assassin has been caught on camera.Leonidas Vargas,...

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32 year old drug mule who came over a bit poorly at Reina Sofia last night.

32 year old drug mule who came over a bit poorly at Reina Sofia last night. He told the medical services at the airport that he was feeling unwell. A couple of hours later and 78 capsules of cocaine lighter, the Guardia Civil are now keeping him company at the hospital in Santa Cr...

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Peaceful protest march in Almeria

peaceful protest march in AlmeriaCity this Friday, January 9th 2009 - a year exactly after Len and Helen Prior's housewas demolished by the Junta de Andalucía. It's being organised by AULAN, AUAN (both anti-property abuse associations inAlmeria), Ciudadanos Europeos and others. This is our first big opportunity to showthat the arbitrary treatment towards property owners must be stopp...

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Immigrant has been shot dead by the Moroccan police when trying to cross the border fence in the Spanish enclave of Melilla

Immigrant has been shot dead by the Moroccan police when trying to cross the border fence in the Spanish enclave of Melilla. The police opened fire against a group of 80 Sub-Saharan people who were storming the fence at Iyasenen, and another 14 people were arrested. The dead man died when on his way to hospital, and the rest of the group managed to escape, but none made the crossing into Spain.There was a similar attack from a group of 150 last Novemb...

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18 year old’s arrested in their van at Adra

two 18 year old’s from Melilla were arrested in their van at Adra, Almería after 150 kilos of hashish was found in hidden compartments in their c...

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Almería launch was heading to shore with 1,400 kilos of hashish on board.

Four crew from a small launch, two of them underage, have been arrested in Almería.It happened at 4am on Saturday in the waters of Níjar, close to Punta Polacra. The launch was heading to shore with 1,400 kilos of hashish on board. On the interception by the Maritime Guardia Civil two of those on the launch jumped into the sea in an effort to swim to shore. Both were resuced by the authoriti...

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Large arms find in Majorca

Spanish police have broken up an arms trafficking gang, seizing nearly 300 weapons as well as 350 kilos of ammunition, police said Friday. Five people were detained in Palma Majorca and in Zamora in the north of the Spanish mainland. They included the owner of an arms store and an expert who repaired used weapons. The confiscated weapons ranged from revolvers to rifles and machine guns. Police also seized mortars and grenade launche...

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€50m had been stolen from account at Barclays in Marbella between 2001 and 2003.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Thani,had €50m stolen from account at Barclays in Marbella between 2001 and 2003. Last month Barclays was reportedly ordered to post €20m as security with a Spanish court as part of a legal battle. At the time a settlement was said to be still some way off after a letter from the sheikh in the summer which vowed he would pursue every legal route possible to recover his money. The sheikh claims a former employee set up a bank account at Barclays' Marbella branch, using his own name and the sheikh's. The sheikh claims he had no knowledge of this and his signature was forged. It is alleged money from another of his accounts was siphoned to the joint account, and later withdrawn or transferred to Monaco, the British Virgin Islands and Switzerla...

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Marbella,Three Brits were arrested and another was on the run

Three Brits were arrested and another was on the run last night after police in Spain seized almost four tonnes of hashish in a raid on a Costa del Sol warehouse.Spanish drugs squad officers swooped on the industrial unit in Antequera, near Malaga, earlier yesterday before arresting the three suspects.A fourth British man was cornered during a similar raid on an apartment building in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella, but he managed to escape through a first-floor window and was still at large, police officials said.A drugs squad officer said: "We carried out the raid after a tip-off and made one of the largest drugs seizures of the past 12 months."Three British men resident on the Costa del Sol are being held in custody facing charges for drugs trafficking."The officer confirmed: "A fourth...

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32-year-old man who reported feeling unwell to the medical services yesterday morning was found to be carrying 78 capsules of cocaine in his body

32-year-old man who reported feeling unwell to the medical services yesterday morning was found to be carrying 78 capsules of cocaine in his body, a total weight of 854 grams. The man sought medical assistance in arrivals in Reina Sofia airport, and admitted that he was carrying drugs within his person. He was immediately transferred to a Santa Cruz hospital, where he was operated upon to remove the drugs. He is still in hospital under Guardia Civil arre...

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