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 to 12 years in prison by a court in Naples, the home of the Camorra. He is suspected of heading a clan based in the Vomero and Arenella neighbourhoods of Naples.His suspected henchman, Simeoli, had been a fugitive since June 2007, when an arrest warrant was issued for him as well as Caiazzo and about 30 other suspected members of the Vomero clan.Spanish police said in a statement that the clan is known for "a brutal internal Camorra war that culminated in 1997 with the Arenella massacre, in which a woman died in the crossfire between two clans."
Caiazzo's clan escaped unscathed, becoming the "uncontested leader," the statement said.Their capture comes after a wave of arrests of suspected Camorra members in recent months in Spain, where the mafia has been accused of working with Colombian drug traffickers. Spain is the main entry point into Europe for cocaine and Moroccan hashish."The Camorra and Colombian cartels work together in Spain" where the Naples mafia manages part of the cocaine trafficking, an Italian police official told the El Pais daily earlier this month -- three days after the arrest in Barcelona of another accused Camorra leader, Salvatore Zazo.Zazo is suspected of importing Colombian cocaine bound for Naples thanks to a "friendship" forged in Spain between the Camorra, local gangs and Latin American cartels, said Gaetano Maruccia, a Naples military police official."Neapolitan organised crime has created logistical bases in several major Spanish cities and has key members (in the country) as well as an ample network of collaborators," Maruccia said.The Camorra clan is reported to have up to 5,000 members and is believed to be one of several mafia groups involved in drug trafficking, arms deals, prostitution and racketeering.
Spanish police investigations have repeatedly uncovered links between eastern European or Italian mafia and Colombian drug smuggling cartels.In May 2008, a suspected Italian mafia drug trafficker was arrested in Spain with his Colombian accomplice and 40,000 doses of cocaine on his person.Italian author Roberto Saviano, who wrote the best-selling mafia expose "Gomorrah," said in a 2006 interview that "Spain has been invaded by Camorra money."On Spain's Costa del Sol and Canary Islands, Italian mafia money built "several hotels and tourist compounds.""Spain is considered by many mafiosi as the best place to hide without interrupting their activities," Saviano said.

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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 insisted last night that the arrest was not linked to their investigation into Keogh's brutal death.The getaway car, a Honda Civic, was found less than half a mile from the murder scene. It had been stolen last October and was discovered outside a school where the gunman had failed in his efforts to set it alight and then abandoned it.
Forensic experts took away a handgun magazine and a pair of gloves that were left in the car.Spanish interior ministry official Hilario Lopez said the murder bore the hallmarks of a gangland execution, although police were also examining other theories.Keogh (30), moved with his partner and four children to Spain after he was shot by a gang with paramilitary links while living in Duleek, Co Meath in November 2007. But he continued his links with drug trafficking on the Costa del Sol.
Keogh was regarded as a "second-tier" operator who had a wide-ranging list of international contacts, particularly in Spain and South America.Police said he was shot eight times near Torrequebrada casino on a main road overlooking the Mediterranean. He tried to escape after being shot at twice, but fell injured outside a supermarket opposite the casino. He was shot again at close range.
Keogh, originally from Carnlough Road, in Cabra, Dublin, was hit twice in the head, twice in the back and also in the thigh, lower leg and arm.Up to a dozen bullet casings were recovered from the scene.Bruno Bernet, a waiter at a nearby Italian restaurant, said: "Customers jumped when they heard the shots. I heard five". Meanwhile, Fianna Fail MEP Eoin Ryan last night called for a European-wide confiscation order for the seizure of assets from criminals involved in organised crime.He said many criminals were involved in jurisdiction hopping, which meant they illegally imported and sold drugs in one EU country, laundered the financial proceeds in another and then purchased assets, such as houses, cars and yachts, in a third country.DRUGS double-cross is believed to have been behind the latest brutal murder of an Irish criminal on Spain's Costa del Sol.Spanish police said they were satisfied trafficker Richard Keogh had fallen foul of a rival drugs outfit and the row led to his death in the tourist resort of Benalmadena on Saturday night.

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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 family in the Belfry estate, Duleek, Co Meath. On November 2nd, 2007, Keogh was putting his bin out for collection when a gunman fired at least five shots at him as his wife and two-year-old son looked on. He was wounded in the shoulder and arm but managed to run back into the safety of his home. His attacker tried to run into the house but Keogh’s partner slammed the door shut as a number of bullets hit the house. Shortly after the murder attempt, Keogh put his five bedroom detached property up for sale and moved with his partner and children to southern Spain. Keogh has been a target of the Garda National Drug Unit for a number of years as part of Operation Rugby and Operation Banish. He was associated with a man from Cabra who was a member of an international gang caught with cocaine valued at €400 million off the coast of Spain a number of years ago. Keogh’s assets are currently being investigated by the Criminal Assets Bureau. Garda sources said they regarded Keogh a “significant player” in the drugs trade here. The deceased was one of a growing number of gangland figures involved in the motor trade in Dublin. He was a partner in a garage in the north inner city. Garda sources said that while he had addresses in Balbriggan and Duleek before moving to Spain, he remained closely associated with drug dealers from Cabra and from Dublin’s north inner city. He and was also associated with the Finglas-based gang once led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland.
Gardaí suspect that when Keogh moved to Spain he began sourcing cocaine and other drugs from international gangs there for export to his contacts in Ireland. They believe his murder is most likely linked to a drugs dispute with an international cartel rather than with any Irish criminals based in Benalmadena Costa. Southern Spain is popular with Irish gangs because it is the European distribution hub for cocaine smuggled from Colombia via West Africa. Keogh’s murder is the latest in a series of killings in which Irish drug dealers have been shot after relocating to continental Europe. Peter Mitchell (39), of Summerhill in Dublin, was wounded in a shooting in Marbella last August. He was a one-time associate of John Gilligan. Drug dealer Paddy Doyle, of Portland Place, in Dublin, was shot dead near Marbella last February. The former leaders of the notorious Dublin Westies gang, Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg, were shot dead in Alicante, southern Spain, in early 2004. John McKeon, from Finglas in Dublin, has been missing presumed dead in Spain for over three years. Cork drug dealer Michael “Danser” Ahern was found dead in the freezer of an apartment in Portugal in 2005.

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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 casino.

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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 attacker.

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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 attack.

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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 the body, and thought to have been used by the kidnappers.76 year old Marbella businessman who died during an express kidnapping attempt last week, Fernando Moreno, did not meet his death through natural causes. His body was found, in a chair hands tied above his head, with feet and neck also tied and mouth taped up, and with his head covered up, on Thursday inside an abandoned building between Marbella and Ojen with no outward signs of violence. However the autopsy carried out on Friday indicates that he suffocated to death through swallowing a piece of the cloth which had been placed in his mouth. Sources indicate that the autopsy was a full one and lasted for seven hours, and that several samples taken could help to resolve the case.The investigators consider that he was probably still alive when his kidnappers left the scene after negotiating his release and the payment of a ransom with him and his family. Police say no money was paid, and they are interested in the statement from one of Fernando Moreno’s workers who saw an old white right-hand drive van, with British number plates in the area. The van has now been located in Marbella and forensic scientists have been combing it for prints and DNA.Government Sub-Delegate in Málaga, Hilario López Luna, has confirmed that the businessman was kidnapped. Reports say that the kidnappers were of Latin American origin. Initially in phone calls to the family they demanded two million €, a sum which later was reduced to 600,000 €. Reporting restrictions have now been imposed in the case.

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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 brought into Ireland with the assistance of a major Spanish crime figure and Irish smugglers. After the haul was uncovered, thanks to an anonymous tip, Ignacio Goyeneche told gardaí how the massive consignment had been brought into the country. The Spaniard, an unemployed fisherman who lived in Dingle 18 years ago, was a key figure in the operation which began in Spain where the drugs were provided by a major Spanish crime figure. Ignacio Goyeneche said he watched as 72 kilos of cannabis was stashed in an Irish owned and operated trawler, which then sailed from northern Spain to Bantry in Cork. According to Goyeneche the drugs were successfully landed in the Bantry area in early July 2008. Once the shipment was safely ashore, Ignacio Goyeneche said he helped break up the drugs and transport them to Dingle where the majority, 65 kilos worth €785,000, was stashed in hidden compartments under a bed in the home of Lisa Basire in Ballyhea. The rest, 50 bales worth €76,000, was hidden behind panels in the boot of Mr Goyeneche’s Volvo car. Gardaí said Mr Goyeneche had refused to name the Spanish crime figure who supplied the drugs or the Irish fisherman who helped smuggle the drugs. Goyeneche said he was afraid to name the Spanish crime figure whom he described only as “a heavy.” The Kerry coastline has long been known as a haven for smugglers. The sheer scale of the waters and coastline involved, coupled with the many bays and inlets of Kerry and west Cork, has made the work of gardai, customs and the Navy extremely difficult. Even a recent US Drug Enforcement Agency Report raised concerns that the Kerry and Cork coast has become a major European drugs gateway. Meanwhile, English woman Lisa Basire, who was jailed for three years this week for her part in last summer’s €850,000 cannabis haul in Dingle, was described in court as a loner who made no profit whatsoever from the deal. Miss Basire, originally from London, spent her 38th birthday in Tralee Circuit Criminal Court on Monday where she pleaded guilty to possessing €785,000 worth of cannabis at Scanlons Cottage, Ballyhea on July 8 2008. Gardaí at the trial said they believed Lisa Basire when she said she had no part in importing the drugs, was not a drug dealer and had not benefited financially in any way from the drugs.

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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 up to a dozen pieces similar to those on display had been stolen. The robberies had been reported in the United States, France, Belgium and Spain. An unidentified Frenchman was arrested and charged with fraud and faking documents, they said.frenchman was arrested yesterday for trying to organize an exhibition of works by Dali in a hotel in Fuengirola, an coastal town between here and Marbella. Yes, a hotel in Fuengirola is a likely place for a serious art exhibit. So it's pefectly normal for the works to be thrown into a truck sent here from France. And of course you'd store over sixty Dali originals in one of the hotel's rooms with no special security. Right. And exactly who did this guy think was going to buy these valuable pieces of art? Dali is one of the most forge artists in the world. I guess the guy figured he'd find plenty of suckers here who wanted to launder some money. And probably a very reasonable supposition

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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 once before, Davison was granted bail and went on the run again. A year on he is still a fugitive.
Davison, formerly of Colville Road, Lowestoft, was originally arrested as he came out of his flat overlooking the beach at Estepona on the Costa del Sol.At the same time his home in Lowestoft was raided by Suffolk customs officers and separate amounts of cash totalling £1million were seized at the premises. Several boats at Davison's company were also seized and impounded.Davison had settled in the Costa Del Sol several years before. The flat he was in at the time of his arrest was believed to be one of at least 10 he had in eastern Spain.At first Davison was remanded in jail following his arrest and held in a prison near Malaga. However, he was subsequently released on bail, from which he absconded for the first time.
A spokeswoman for HM Customs and Revenue confirmed Davison had not returned to answer his bail on two separate occasions.She said: "Neil Davison is currently at large having been arrested on a European arrest warrant in February 2008. He was granted bail from which he has absconded."Over the years the nature of drug trafficking between Spain and Morocco, known as the 'hashish gateway' changed, leading to different types of high-speed boats being used to outrun the authorities.
Davison's boat-building firm produced powerful semi-rigid hull inflatable boats, known as RHIBS.In just over a year before his arrest around 100 such boats, worth an average of 60,000 Euros, are believed to have been seized in southern Spain.

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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 was that one of the detainees, who is not even thirty, and apparently without any job at all, managed to acquire fifteen pieces of real estate over two years.

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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 sale.

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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 woman.

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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 crime.

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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 along with luxury goods worth nearly £11m. These included a Ferrari F430 Spyder, a 599 Fiorano, two Hummers, a Porsche Cayenne turbo, an Audi Q7, a Mercedes 63 AMG and two BMWs. A luxury yacht was also confiscated.

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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 Europe.

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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 beach.

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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 car thefts and burglaries were the most reported and yet occurred less often , maybe because of the insurance connection .Published statistics are based on the crimes that are reported and what the survey discovered is that this is not always a true reflection of what is actually happening .

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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 ask for Zazo's extradition to Italy to stand trial.

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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 compensation.

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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 is a victim in this case."The Wall Street Journal reported that Spanish prosecutors are investigating how Santander lost client money through Madoff's alleged fraud. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment. The official at the prosecutor's office said Santander wasn't a target of the probe.The anticorruption prosecutor will be examining the relationship between Santander, the investment fund Fairfield Greenwich Group, and the Madoff funds, the Journal reported. Fairfield had $7.5 billion with Madoff.About two-thirds of losses incurred by Santander clients were borne by investors in Latin America, the Journal said.

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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. But the newspaper reported that another of the investment projects, Lince Sanctuario near Seville, will never be built. It was said that Redgrave invested in a £2million off-plan villa on this site and in return for a discount on the property had allowed his face and name to be used to promote the development on Royal Duja Group's billboards. He is now seking legal advice over the issue.In an interview with the Daily Mail, Redgrave said: “It's been a disaster, with the planning permission revoked. I have lost my investment. I've done promotional work for the developer and that was half the payment for the plot I had. I've lost a hell of a lot of time and image.“I've been talking to Geoff Hurst and he has similar problems. He has invested and he has friends who invested,” added Redgrave.The newspaper report explained how Hurst's and Underwood's off-plan flats at the former Royal Marbella development at Aldea Beach in Manilva on the Costa del Sol were issued building licences illegally by local mayor Pedro Tirado.Tirado has now been imprisoned for accepting bribes and Hurst is leading a group action to try to get back money he and other investors put into the development which are now unlikely to materialise.

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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 a court appearance.

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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 processed.

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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. Three officers boarded without resistance at 07.00 and immediately saw the contraband in several packages on the deck of the boat. They obtained a search warrant and took the crew and cargo to Alicante port, arriving at around 11.00. The drugs were unloaded on the quay, attracting the attention of several passersby, and the suspects were taken to the National Police headquarters. The investigation into the intended destination of the shipment, valued at 18 million euros, remains open.

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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 July 2002, he was rearrested, and brought before the Edinburgh High Court.Once again, Dieter-Glaetzner was granted bail, pending a trial at Forfar High Court in Forfar in October of 2002. He left the country, however, for the second time, and remained at large until his capture in Spain was announced on Thursday of this week.
A Central Scotland Police spokeswoman confirmed reports that a suspect had been arrested by Costa del Sol police.

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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, a once powerful Colombian drug trafficker, has been shot dead in his hospital bed in the Spanish capital, Madrid. Police said that a gunman entered his room and fired four shots at Vargas, who was being treated for lung disease.
Vargas, 59, was the head of the Caqueta cartel which ran vast cocaine laboratories in Colombia in the 1980s. After serving a prison sentence in Colombia, he was arrested in Spain in 2006 and was on bail awaiting trial. The Spanish authorities stopped him up for carrying a fake Venezuelan passport, and he was later charged in connection with a 500kg (1,100lb) cocaine haul. His trial was delayed and he was admitted to the Doce de Octubre hospital for treatment in early January. Witnesses say two people entered Vargas' room on the fifth floor of the hospital. One man took out a pistol with a silencer and fired four shots at Vargas, who was asleep. His killing is believed to be part of a settling of accounts between rival drug-trafficking organisations, says the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia. Vargas assumed a low profile after being released in Colombia, but in the 1980s he was allied with the powerful Medellin drug cartel of Pablo Escobar. An idea of the scale of his wealth at the time was revealed after the Colombian state seized $29m worth of properties from him.

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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 Cruz.

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Peaceful protest march in Almeria

peaceful protest march in Almeria
City this Friday, January 9th 2009 - a year exactly after Len and Helen Prior's house
was 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 stopped.

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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 November.

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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 car.

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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 authorities.

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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 launchers.

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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 Switzerland.

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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 British man, who is believed to be connected to the other three, escaped and is still on the run."

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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 arrest.

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