Three people were killed in a shooting outside El Dueso prison in Santoña, Cantabria,

Tres muertos en un tiroteo junto al penal cántabro de El Dueso

Three people were killed in a shooting outside El Dueso prison in Santoña, Cantabria, when an as yet to be identified gunman pulled up in a car driven by another man and opened fire on their van parked outside the prison. They then sped away from the scene.It has been revealed that one of the victims, known as Tomasín, was serving a sentence for four killings, and the police believe the shooting was the result of a settling of scores. Tomasín, full name Tomás Ruiz Fernández, was returning to prison after a pass according to reports.There are a number of ETA inmates in El Dueso prison, but central government offices in Cantabria have ruled out any connection between Monday’s shooting and a terrorist attack.

Read more »

Granada fatal shooting in Granada province, where two brothers from Portugal lost their lives.

Triple murder in a shooting outside a prison in Cantabria on Monday morning was followed just a few hours later by a fatal shooting in Granada province, where two brothers from Portugal lost their lives. It happened at lunchtime on the industrial estate in Ogíjares, near the provincial capital, when another man arrived at the restaurant where the brothers were eating.They began a violent argument and both brothers, A.R. and M.R., were killed in the shootout which followed. The other man, a Spaniard named as F.R.F. from Granada province, was also hurt but survived his wounds. He was arrested nearby still with the murder weapon in his possession.
The argument is believed to have started over a previous argument the men’s wives had had earlier that day.

Read more »

Two Chinese prostitutes have been arrested for dumping a client’s body in a doorway

Two Chinese prostitutes have been arrested for dumping a client’s body in a doorway in Alicante City after he suddenly died during a party at the underground brothel where they worked in the San Blas area of the city. El Mundo said the autopsy shows he died of a heart attack after taking Viagra and other substances at the party.
The man’s body was found in the street in the early hours of Sunday near the brothel on Calle Doctor Santaolalla run by a woman from Romania. The prostitutes and a man who helped them to dump the body there were arrested the following day.

Read more »

13 Albano Kosovo men, and six Romanian women, have been arrested in connection with a series of thefts from villas while their owners were asleep

Operation controlled by the Instruction Court Two in Torrevieja, a group of 19 people, 13 Albano Kosovo men, and six Romanian women, have been arrested in connection with a series of thefts from villas while their owners were asleep inside.
The arrests were carried out by more than 20 people from the specialist ECO unit of the Guardia Civil who say the group are implicated in non violent burglaries carried out mostly in Valencia province, but also in Castellón, Alicante and Tarragona. Often a luxury car would be taken.Investigations started more than a year ago, and the swoops which started at 6,30am on Tuesday morning saw several homes being searched in the Valencia region, one of them just 50 metres from the Guardia Civil barracks in Valencia.

Read more »

Paedo on the run in Huelva

suspected paedophile is on the run in Huelva after escaping from cells at the city’s provincial court. He is a 28 year old Belgian named as S.P.T.S. who was arrested on Sunday for alleged sexual abuse of his girlfriend’s young daughter.
It’s understood that both he and the girlfriend live locally.The man managed to escape custody on Monday by faking severe stomach pains, assaulting the National Police officer who accompanied him to the bathroom and eluding capture by the Civil Guard officers who were on guard duty at the doors to the court building.Europa Press said he had no money or documentation with him when he made his escape. As of Wednesday, police had as yet failed to find the fugitive.

Read more »

British man faces charges in Alicante after trying to smuggle a large amount of cannabis on board a plane bound for Dublin

British man faces charges in Alicante after trying to smuggle a large amount of cannabis on board a plane bound for Dublin. He was arrested at El Altet Airport last weekend after Civil Guard officers discovered in a routine control of the luggage which was to be loaded onto the plane that he had 27 kilos of cannabis resin hidden inside his two suitcases.He is named as a 27 year old with the initials V.B. and was arrested after the officers identified him as the owner of the suitcases in question. He now faces a drug trafficking charge from the courts.

Read more »

Olga Pleguezuelos Puzueu stabbed several times

Scotland Yard has opened an investigation into the death of Olga Pleguezuelos Puzueu. The 35 year old Spanish woman was married to the Briton, Mark Campbell, the information director of the ILD company which wants to build the largest casino complex in Europe, Gran Scala, in the Los Monegros desert in Aragón.A statement from the British police says they received an emergency call from a resident of a home in Harrow and found the body of the woman on their arrival at the scene. It had been stabbed several times.A 53 year old man was arrested at the scene, but his name has not yet been revealed, although it is known that he had injuries to his neck and one of his wrists, and has been admitted to hospital.The victim worked in marketing and had recently been promoted in the Aristocrat Europe company.

Read more »

Eight of the 20 suspects arrested in the ‘Operación Poniente’ corruption case in El Ejido have now been remanded to custody by the investigating judge

Eight of the 20 suspects arrested in the ‘Operación Poniente’ corruption case in El Ejido have now been remanded to custody by the investigating judge, including the Mayor, Juan Enciso, who Judge Montserrat Peña decided should be refused bail after five hours of questioning on Friday. The head of Instruction Court No. 2 in Almería City took the same decision for the municipal auditor, José Alemán.

The businessman, Juan Antonio Galán, considered the head of the Madrid branch of the corruption network, was the last to be questioned by the judge and was sent to prison on Saturday. The three joined José Amate, a former manager of the municipal services company, El Sur, which is believed to be at the centre of the corruption. Amate is the administrator of Arborimar and Maviroad, two companies which works inspectors discovered on an inspection last month were employing staff illegally.

His sons and two sons in law are also on remand, while Amate’s two daughters were granted 50,000 € bail by the judge. The Mayor’s wife and daughter were released with charges.The eighth suspect sent to prison in the case is the businessman Ambrosio Cuevas.
The corruption network is believed to have misappropriated through El Sur and a network of companies linked to the municipal services company more than 150 million € over a period of at least six years. The charges against the group following the raid on El Ejido Town Hall last Tuesday range from money laundering, misappropriation of public funds and document falsification, to bribery and influence peddling.

Read more »

Elderly couple found in the ashes of a house fire in Villarubia on the outskirts of Córdoba on Friday, had been shot

Elderly couple found in the ashes of a house fire in Villarubia on the outskirts of Córdoba on Friday, had been shot before the blaze broke out. Police say all the options, including domestic violence, remain open as more scientific tests are carried out.One of the family said that the couple had been together for ten years. The woman had three children from an earlier marriage, and the man is thought to have a similar number. A nephew lived with the couple, but was not at home at the time of the tragedy. He is said to be devastated.

Read more »

Alicante leads the field for the number of vehicle thefts which take place in the province every day

Alicante leads the field for the number of vehicle thefts which take place in the province every day, surpassing even the capital, Madrid, in official figures from the Attorney General’s office for cases of this type which came to court last year.
Of the almost 80,000 cases in Spain last year, close to 13,900 of them were in Alicante. It’s an average of 38 vehicles every day and equates to one in every six vehicles stolen across the country.
Diario Información notes that, while vehicle theft in Spain as a whole rose by 5.4% last year, the result for Alicante was a massive increase of 39.2%. Manuel Martínez, from the AUGC Civil Guard association, told the newspaper that the province has become an important base for all types of criminal organisations over recent years, many of which are involved in the organised theft of vehicles.Many of the stolen cars are then usually stripped down to be sold on as spare parts. One noted case was in Almoradí, where a gang was broken up which had stolen an estimated 500 cars over the previous 5 years.

Read more »

José Luis Blanca Lorca has been awarded a posthumous decoration, after he died while attending the scene of an accident

A Civil Guard officer called out to an accident at Las Pedrizas this April, then killed by another vehicle which skidded in the heavy rain, was remembered by his colleagues this Sunday, when his father was awarded a posthumous decoration on his behalf of his son.José Luis Blanca Lorca, who was based in Casabermeja, was 37 years old when he died and received a standing ovation in his memory at celebrations held at Civil Guard command in Málaga ahead of the Día del Pilar, the patron saint of the armed forces and of the Civil Guard.Diario Sur reports there were also some words at the ceremony for Juan Jesús Bueno Ortigoso, another Civil Guard officer who was injured while attending an accident on the roads of Málaga. He went into a coma after he was hit by a drunk driver on the road to Campillos last month, also while attending the scene of a previous accident.

Read more »

Civil Guards are in hospital after their barracks in Los Montecillos, Dos Hermanas in Sevilla, was attacked by a crowd

Civil Guards are in hospital after their barracks in Los Montecillos, Dos Hermanas in Sevilla, was attacked by a crowd of local residents on Saturday night. The incident began when a group of youngsters started throwing stones onto the garage roof at the barracks and they and their colleagues came out into the street to try and put a stop to their actions.They were, however, forced to retreat back inside and call for reinforcements, as stones and other objects rained down from nearby balconies and windows. El País reports some 40 people were involved in the incident.
One of the Civil Guard suffered head injuries after being hit with a stick during the confrontation and the other was stabbed in the hand. It’s understood this last is due to undergo surgery for the stab wound on Tuesday.Los Montecillos is a conflictive area which is known to be used by drug dealers and where a similar assault on officers took place this April when they were attempting to arrest a local woman on a drugs charge.

Read more »

30 weapons included 24 shotguns and six pistols, and were hidden in suitcases wrapped up in clothes behind cars

Tax Authority has impounded a container at the port in Algeciras found to hold contraband weapons bound for Nigeria. The 30 weapons included 24 shotguns and six pistols, and were hidden in suitcases wrapped up in clothes behind cars which had been loaded onto the container.El Mundo said a large part of the ammunition which also found in the suitcases is of a type which is banned as illegal in Spain.
No arrests have as yet been reported in the case.

Read more »

Attacked with the axe the father kicked him and beat him as he lay injured on the ground

man charged with an axe attack in Órgiva two years ago pleaded guilty at his trial at the Granada provincial court this Tuesday, and has accepted a prison term of 3 years and 9 months for attempted murder. The victim, Francisco G.E., was attacked from behind with the weapon after an argument with his assailant’s father in a local bar, suffering a fracture in his skull.It happened in May 2007 after Francisco G.E. came to blows with his attacker’s father, José L.B., now deceased, during their argument in the bar. The father later told his son what had happened, and the two lured the other man into an alleyway, where the son, José Manuel M.S., attacked him with the axe and the father kicked him and beat him as he lay injured on the ground. Father and son then fled the scene.Europa Press notes that the court imposed a fine of 120 € on the victim for the injuries he himself caused during the fight.

Read more »

Teconsa, gave donations worth 318,000 € to Alhaurín el Grande

El País printed details of links from the Gürtel corruption case to the Costa del Sol. One of the companies implicated in the affair, Teconsa, gave donations worth 318,000 € to Alhaurín el Grande, where the Mayor Juan Martín Serón spent the money on a library and the sponsorship of a basketball team. The paper says the money was paid via the Proinsa company, which planned to build 2,500 homes with swimming pools and golf course in the area known as Finca la Mota. Juan Martín Serón is currently released on 100,000 € bail and facing charges of perversion of the course of justice, bribery and money laundering. He said on Wednesday that Teconsa received nothing in exchange for their donations.The man at the centre of the Gürtel case, businessman Francisco Correa, is now also known to have purchased 16 plots of land and five apartments in Marbella between 2003 and 2008, despite, according to the case summary, not filling in any income tax return since 1999. He is the son in law of the late real estate promoter, Emilio Rodríguez Bugallo, who was indicted in the Malaya case. Correa paid his 500,000 € bail money, and the case summary says that to clear that debt Rodríguez Bugallo sold several properties in El Embrujo Playa to Correa as a way also of clearing himself of assets.

Read more »

Britain's most wanted man has been arrested in Spain – after four years on the run.

Britain's most wanted man has been arrested in Spain – after four years on the run.
Ronald Priestley, 69, from Colton, Leeds, masterminded a £4.25m banknote counterfeit fraud.He was sentenced to eight years in his absence four years ago.Priestley was arrested in Malaga. A world-wide hunt for him was launched when he failed to attend a Leeds Crown Court hearing in August 2005 to face charges of conspiracy to counterfeit £20 banknotes with a face value of £4.25m.He had disappeared from his luxury home in Colton. The house was protected by electric fences and guard dogs.
In their hunt for Priestley police urged Spain's expatriate British community on the Costa del Sol to help bring the pensioner, orginally from Bramley, to justice.
Priestley had a criminal past in counterfeiting long before 2005. In December 2002 he was stripped of more than £2.2m at Bradford Crown Court.Police raids on his home in Park Road, Colton, and factories near Huddersfield, had netted 138,000 bottles of fake fragrances and 1,500 bottles of Spanish sparkling wine relabelled as Moet et Chandon champagne.Officers also found £104,000 cash hidden in secret compartments at his home.In April that year he had been jailed for 18 months after admitting three counts of conspiracy to sell or distribute counterfeit goods – but was released early from jail.Priestley was arrested as part of crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers' Operation Captura, which has identified criminals living in Spain wanted in the UK. Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency work closely with British Embassy and Spanish law enforcement agencies.Priestley was featured in the campaign's first 10 appeals in October 2006. He is the 25th out of 50 wanted individuals arrested in the past 10 days.

Read more »

Richard Henry Roberts sentenced in Daniel Hastelow murder case

36 year old Briton, Richard Henry Roberts, has been sent to prison for 18 years for killing his compatriot, Daniel Hastelow in January 2008. The court in Palma de Mallorca heard how the accused had stabbed the sleeping victim eight times.
A second Briton arrested at the time, Paul A. Griffiths, was found not guilty and released without charge.The court and jury considered it proved that after an argument in a bar earlier the aggressor, Richard H Roberts, went to the apartment where the victim was sleeping under the effects of alcohol and drugs, broke in and stabbed the victim with a 20 cm long and 4cm wide knife eight times. The other Briton Paul Griffiths looked on.The two were arrested at the airport the following day.Richard Robert has also been ordered to pay 90,000 € compensation to the victim’s family. He has a previous record for violent theft, causing injury and robbery.jury on the holiday island of Majorca found Richard Henry Roberts, 36, guilty of the murder of nightclub bouncer Daniel Hastelow after a trial.But another Merseyside man, jointly accused of the killing in the popular resort of Palmanova in January last year, was acquitted by the jury of nine because of “lack of proof”.Roberts admitted stabbing the 26-year-old victim, from Walsall, seven times.
But he claimed it was self defence when the four-day trial began on Monday.
Yesterday, the jury rejected his claim he grabbed a knife from a table to defend himself when Mr Hastelow attacked him, delivering heavy blows.They convicted Roberts of murder, rejecting a defence plea for a manslaughter verdict.But the jury accepted the defence argument that evidence was not produced to support prosecution claims that Paul Anthony Griffiths, 23, also from Liverpool, took part in the deliberate killing of Mr Hastelow.It was alleged Griffiths beat the victim with a baseball bat as he lay sleeping in an apartment in the resort on the island’s south coast.Griffiths admitted being present when Mr Hastelow was killed, but denied taking any part in his death.The jury also dismissed a charge against both accused of breaking into the apartment where Mr Hastelow died.After the verdicts, Judge Eduardo Calderon formally acquitted Griffiths and dismissed him from the court.The state prosecutor then asked for an 18 year prison sentence for Roberts.He also asked Judge Calderon to order Roberts to pay compensation of 90,000 Euros – around £81,000 – to the victim’s family.The judge’s written sentence will be known later.

Read more »

Brutal Marbella crime syndicate plotted to snatch and ransom the family of a top UK TV presenter.

Brutal Marbella crime syndicate plotted to snatch and ransom the family of a top UK TV presenter. brutal crime syndicate plotted to snatch and ransom the family of a top TV presenter.Law agencies across Europe fear any celeb is at risk in the Spanish resorts where Britons flock for sunshine holidays.The player, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was targeted while visiting the area at the end of last year's football season. But the plan was aborted at the last minute.Ex-British intelligence agent Paul Grimshaw, now a security consultant in Marbella, said: "Crime gangs from Eastern Europe and Russian are moving in. The area is teeming with wealth."They don't care who they target as long as there is money to be earned. The footballer was picked out for that reason"They got cold feet. But reliable sources are adamant that a highprofile celebrity kidnapping is only a matter of time. Footballers, especially wealthy ones, should be vigilant at all times."Grimshaw revealed the threat of kidnap is scaring the wealthy away from Spain. He said: "Former England manager Steve McClaren sold his villa last year over fears about the rising crime rate. The Qatar royal family has not visited its 14-bedroom home in Marbella for nearly five years and will probably never return."A personal security officer for Spanish-based CCS24Gibraltar said: "I've worked on the Costa del Sol for ten years and crime has never been worse. It's dangerous and frightening. Kidnappings, drug-trafficking and robberies happen all the time."High walls and cameras don't deter these criminals. If they want to get you - they will."Leeds-born Grimshaw, 46, alerted the Football Association and the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to the soccer star plot. He wrote in August: "An England player was the target of a kidnap plot after the Champions League Final in Moscow in 2008. It is believed the player was pinpointed at either a training camp or during a vacation in southern Spain."Anybody travelling abroad should review their security arrangements. This threat was not limited to one player."Pfa chief executive Gordon Taylor said: "We can't afford not to take information like this seriously in this day and age.
"Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Everton's Phil Jagielka were targeted by burglars. Spurs player Wilson Palacios' brother Edwin was kidnapped in Honduras in May. Wilson paid a £125,000 ransom but Edwin was murdered."There is precedent for snatching soccer stars. Manchester United ace Dimitar Berbatov was kidnapped in his native Bulgaria while an 18-year-old with CSKA Sofia. He was freed unharmed but recalled yesterday: "It was a horrific ordeal."Grimshaw, who has lived in Spain for 20 years, warned: "Abduction worries have rocketed, particularly in Marbella."The Russian Mafia has been gaining ground in Spain since the last property boom made it an attractive place to launder money. They prey on the rich - and will stop at nothing.In June, four Russians grabbed a man in the street in Estepona and told him he would die within 24 hours unless he paid them £12,000. He escaped after being tortured for two days. Some gangs are Kosovan Albanians, often ex-soldiers. Others are Romanian and Lithuanian.The family of property developer Frank Capa - a pal of Rod Stewart - paid a £1 million for his release after he was kidnapped in Marbella in 2004.
Ian Watmore of the FA confirmed they were reviewing player security after Grimshaw's tip. A security officer added: "Famous footballers and celebrities are sitting ducks. I advise them to choose their friends carefully."

Read more »

Two gang members who are thought to have fled to Spain after raiding HSBC

Two gang members who are thought to have fled to Spain after raiding HSBC .As reported yesterday Patrick McDonagh and Carl Hargin were jailed for stealing more than £300,000 from the Westbourne Road branch in an armed, daylight robbery in June.
Hargin, 24, got eight years and eight months and McDonagh, 28, got seven years and four months after admitting the offence.Det Chf Insp McDermott, of West Yorkshire Police’s crime division, said: “They were obviously dangerous and very professional in the way they planned and prepared the offence, using stolen vehicles, one of which was later burned out and abandoned.“The level of violence used at the scene was horrific and it was lucky the bank staff were not seriously injured.“It’s a good result to have got the sentences they received.”Hargin, of Salford, and McDonagh, of Cheetham Hill in Manchester, were part of a four-strong gang who armed themselves with a sledgehammer, a machete and a crowbar when they targeted the bank on the afternoon of June 26.After forcing staff to open the safe, they fled in a Vauxhall Vectra with hold-alls full of cash.The car was later burned out and the gang got in a van, which was spotted by police.It sparked a dramatic chase from Huddersfield to Manchester city centre, where Greater Manchester Police caught up with them in the Arndale Shopping Centre car park.Det Chf Insp McDermott said one of the gang attempted to strip off his clothes and hide behind cars before he was caught.Hargin and McDonagh were arrested, but the others escaped.Det Chf Insp McDermott added: “It was a great team effort between West Yorkshire Police and Greater Manchester Police. They reacted quickly to information we gave to them and in difficult circumstances managed to safely arrest two violent offenders.”He confirmed the other two gang members were thought to have fled to Spain and added: “We have identified who the other two suspects are, and they have been circulated as wanted.“The case is still a live inquiry and we are still actively pursuing them.”

Read more »

Arrested Michael Eddleston, 27, from Doncaster, is accused of three counts of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs.

Michael Eddleston, 27, from Doncaster, is accused of three counts of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs. He was one of 10 men featured earlier this month in an appeal on the Costa Del Sol, known as Operation Captura. The Crimestoppers charity said Mr Eddleston surrendered himself at the British Consulate in Majorca. It said his arrest was a "fantastic result". Mr Eddleston is alleged to be a member of a crime group which carried out a drug trafficking operation from Doncaster and Morley in West Yorkshire. He was identified after a joint investigation between South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Police in 2006. Officers recovered large quantities of heroin and amphetamine sulphate valued at £65,000 as part of the operation. Eight men arrested and charged with offences of conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs were jailed at Sheffield Crown Court in November 2006, after entering guilty pleas.

Read more »

35 year old man wanted in the United States in connection with child pornography has been arrested in Spain

35 year old man wanted in the United States in connection with child pornography has been arrested in Spain while trying to leave the country. The arrest was made in Málaga by officers from the international crime unit of the Costa del Sol Organised Crime and Drugs Squad and the National Court in Madrid will now handle the suspect’s extradition back to the United States.Named by Europa Press as M.R.W., he was wanted on a warrant from the Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona on 10 counts of possession, transport and distribution of child pornography. He was charged in February last year after police found a large amount of pornographic material on the computers he used at a number of residences in Arizona.The suspect is married with two twin daughters, and it’s understood the original complaint to police came from his wife’s sister.

Read more »

Body of a woman has been found inside a suitcase left on a street in Barcelona

Body of a woman has been found inside a suitcase left on a street in Barcelona. A local resident alerted the regional police force, Los Mossos d’Escuadra, who said that the body showed clear signs of violence.The suitcase as found in the La Bordeta, Zona Franca, of the city, close to the Gran Vía, at 11pm on Monday night.
There are some unconfirmed reports that the victim could be Latin American, and reporting restrictions have been placed on the case.

Read more »

Andalucía High Court has reduced sentencing 17 year old José Pedro Fernández died at 6am on 18th November 2007 when he was stabbed in the heart

Andalucía High Court has reduced sentencing for the 22 year old man, Francisco M.P.P., found guilty earlier this year of the murder of a teenager who was stabbed while trying to break up a fight in Benalmadena’s Plaza Solymar two years ago.The accused was found guilty at a trial by jury this May and sentenced to 17 years in prison.The High Court has however ruled, in a decision published by La Opinión de Málaga this Tuesday, that there was no premeditation in the fatal stabbing, reducing Francisco M.P.P.’s sentence to 13 years behind bars and finding him guilty of the lesser charge of homicide.17 year old José Pedro Fernández died at 6am on 18th November 2007 when he was stabbed in the heart outside a Benalmádena disco. Another suspect in his death, who was just hours away from his 18th birthday when the crime was committed, was found not guilty by a juvenile court.

Read more »

84 year old man from Belgium died in the Santa Ana district hospital in Motril this Monday after what his wife said was a brutal attack at his home

84 year old man from Belgium died in the Santa Ana district hospital in Motril this Monday after what his wife said was a brutal attack at his home in Almuñécar two weeks ago. Named by Granada Hoy newspaper as R.L.N., he was rescued from his flat on the morning of 8th September, where he was found lying naked and badly injured by the officers and firemen who broke down the door after neighbours heard shouting from his home.The paper notes information from sources at the hospital that his injuries were consistent with a fall.The pensioner’s 77 year old wife said in a statement to the Civil Guard the following day that her husband was assaulted by two women who had forced their way into the couple’s flat to rob them.The Civil Guard are investigating and an autopsy will determine the exact cause of death.

Read more »

British man who had an European Arrest Warrant in place against him for rape has been detained in Girona

British man who had an European Arrest Warrant in place against him for rape has been detained in Girona.Named by police as 42 year old Bird C, he was arrested last Saturday afternoon on his arrival at Girona airport on a flight from Doncaster in the U.K.. He is wanted in connection with the rape of a young woman in Germany in 1997.Because Britain is not a member of the Schengen agreement, the arrivals at Girona are considered as being from outside the European Union and therefore passports are subjected to greater scrutiny, and that is how his arrival was flagged.
It’s understood that the court in Neustadt in Germany where the rape took place only entered the details into the Schengen computers last September 9, resulting in the suspect’s arrest just ten days later.He will appear before Instruction Court 5 in the National Court in Madrid which will deal with his extradition.

Read more »

Europe’s biggest haul of heroin Seseña, Toledo

National Police in Spain have recovered one of Europe’s biggest hauls of heroin so far this year: 35 kilos of the drug found hidden in the hydraulic brake system of a lorry parked at a service station in Seseña, Toledo.It’s a method of smuggling which has not been seen in Spain before, and it appears the heroin was brought into the country from Bulgaria with the aim of distributing it in Madrid and Aragón.Six people were taken into custody, including the organisation’s leader, named by the Interior Ministry as G.T., who had flown over from Bulgaria to personally oversee delivery of the drugs.An additional 11 suspects were arrested in the first phase of the operation.

Read more »

34 year old man who killed his mother in the bar she owned in Santomera last year and then carried her decapitated head around the town under his arm.

Trial was due to start at the Murcia provincial court this Thursday of a 34 year old man who killed his mother in the bar she owned in Santomera last year and then carried her decapitated head around the town under his arm.It happened on 15th April 2008 when Ángelo C. stabbed his 56 year old mother, T.M., four times in the abdomen, cut off her head and carried it around town wrapped in a bloody rag until he was arrested by police.It was revealed after the killing that the mother had been on Spanish television before she died saying she was terrified of her son because of his precarious mental state and that her life was in danger. It later emerged that he had been arrested on four occasions for domestic violence and twice spent time in prison for beating his mother.The prosecutor is applying for a 20-year sentence in a psychiatric centre at the accused’s trial by jury.

Read more »

UK charity Crimestoppers has launched a new appeal for British fugitives believed to be on the run on in Spain

UK charity Crimestoppers has launched a new appeal for British fugitives believed to be on the run on in Spain, with a list of the ten most wanted thought to be hiding out on the Costa del Sol. The charges include drug offences, robbery and rape.Crimestoppers said some of them are the UK’s most dangerous child sex offenders.
The appeal launched this Wednesday comes under Operación Captura, run jointly with the SOCA Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Spanish authorities, which has seen 23 out of 40 criminals taken into custody since it was first launched in October 2006.Dave Cording, Crimestoppers’ Director of Operations, said, ‘These appeals include some very nasty individuals and crimes, and we need you, the public, to help us put them behind bars where they belong.’ He stressed that no-one should attempt to approach any of the suspects, but should contact the charity immediately with any information.The freephone telephone number in Spain is 900 555 111, and details of the ten most wanted can be found on the Crimestoppers website www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Read more »

Manhunt for wanted Stephen Burnell, as part of a wider investigation into ten known criminals thought to have fled to Costa Del Sol region of Spain

Paedophile on the run for abusing a nine-year-old girl could be hiding in a Spanish resort. Now investigators will be launching a manhunt for wanted Stephen Burnell, as part of a wider investigation into ten known criminals thought to have fled to Costa Del Sol region of Spain. Burnell, 55, went on the run in 2007 after sacking his defence team days before his trial was due to start. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment for carrying out a number of sickening sex crimes against the nine-year-old – including attempted rape, making pornographic images, and eight sex attacks – and put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life in his absence.
Despite a nationwide search for Burnell, who once lived in the South Bank area of York as well as other parts of the city, he still has not been found. Under the banner of Operation Captura, investigators behind UK crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers, and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), want the help of the public to trace fugitives thought to be on the run in Spanish resorts. Several waves of the appeal, first launched in October 2006, have led to the arrest of 23 out of 40 criminals arrested.

Burnell is described as being 5ft 9ins tall, of medium build, with blue eyes and has a ruddy complexion with cropped receding ginger hair with a full ginger beard and moustache.

He has a number of distinctive tattoos, including a black panther on his left arm; a skull with a dagger behind; and the words Do Or Die printed over the top of his right arm. He is described as having a nomadic lifestyle. Details of the ten men, which also include a suspected child rapist, Martin Smith from Tyneside, and suspected Manchester jewellery robber Benjamin Murphy, are posted by Crimestoppers on a “most wanted” website targeting the region.

Read more »

National Court judge has indicted three former SS guards at Nazi concentration camps for genocide and crimes against humanity

National Court judge has indicted three former SS guards at Nazi concentration camps for genocide and crimes against humanity and has issued international warrants for their arrest.The National Court judge Ismael Moreno said in a ruling this Thursday that Johann Leprich and Anton Tittjung are believed to be living in the United States, while the third suspect, Josias Kumpf, is believed to be in Austria.
His ruling comes after a complaint presented by two Spanish survivors of the Nazi death camps against four SS guards at the Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen and Flossenbürg concentration camps. The fourth guard is John Demjanjuk, and Judge Moreno understands, El Mundo reports, that he is already charged by the authorities in Germany.EFE reports that 4,300 Spanish prisoners died in Mauthausen alone of the 7,000 Spaniards who were incarcerated there.

Read more »

Homeless man found dead in Motril on Sunday

Homeless man found dead in Motril on Sunday afternoon has been identified by Europa Press as a man in his forties from Holland. No name has been released to the press as yet.His body was found beneath a cherimoya tree near the Rambla del Piojo, near a local industrial estate, by another homeless man who had been with him only that morning, but returned to the area where they both lived to find his friend had died.It’s understood there were no signs of violence and his death is believed to have been from natural causes.

Read more »

Civil Guard officer is in a coma in a Málaga hospital after being hit by a drunk driver on the A-357 road

Civil Guard officer is in a coma in a Málaga hospital after being hit by a drunk driver on the A-357 road to Campillos early on Sunday. The officer was hit as he was directing traffic away from the scene of another accident minutes before, suffering serious head injuries, with additional injuries to his legs and a lung, in the impact. The 27 year old from Málaga, J.J.B.O., is now in Intensive Care in Carlos Haya Hospital.The driver in the first accident was freed from his vehicle by firemen and is reported by Málaga Hoy newspaper to also have been drunk at the wheel, suffering minor injuries in the crash.There was yet another smash at the same spot as firemen were still working to free the man trapped in his car, when yet another drunk driver ploughed into a local police officer’s motorcycle placed on the road to block traffic. It’s understood the motorbike was a total write-off.And on Saturday, a 39 year old man was killed in Almayate Costa after he was hit by a car while cycling along the N-340 coast road.

Read more »

Civil Guard have revealed drug hauls amounting to more than six tons of cannabis resin in Málaga province since

Civil Guard have revealed drug hauls amounting to more than six tons of cannabis resin in Málaga province since the beginning of this month, with an additional 919 kilos of marijuana seized during that time. 23 people have been arrested in connection with public health crimes.The latest find was 1.7 tons of cannabis in a van dumped after an accident on the A-7 motorway in Estepona some days ago, which followed a Civil Guard chase when the driver sped off after ignoring an order to halt.In two separate operations, two boats were intercepted off the coasts of Nerja and Benalmádena, carrying a total of 3.3 tons of cannabis.

Read more »

Richard Henry Roberts, 35, and Anthony Griffths, 22 trial starts Daniel Hastelow murder trial

Trial starts of two British men, named as Richard Henry Roberts, 35, and Anthony Griffths, 22 ., who are accused of killing another Briton, 26 year old Daniel Hastelow, and breaking into his home in Magaluf on Mallorca in January this year.The attack came at 4am on the morning after the victim’s birthday in an apartment in Calle Contra almirante Riviera in Magaluf, but an argument had started before that in a local pup. This allegedly led the attackers to go to the home of the victim, armed with a baseball bat and knife. The victim was stabbed several times and the two suspects were arrested at Palma airport afterwards when trying to flee Mallorca. They have been held in prison on remand since January 15 this year.A statement from the Supreme Court said that the case will get underway at 9,30am this morning with the selection of the jury, and is expected to continue in both morning and afternoon sessions until Wednesday.

Read more »

British person who seriously injured another in a fight in Calvià in Mallorca has been arrested.

British person who seriously injured another in a fight in Calvià in Mallorca has been arrested.49 year old Mark James W. was detained on Saturday after handing himself into the authorities when he realised they were after him. His arrest is in connection with the injuries suffered by 51 year old Christopher M, who had to be admitted to the intensive care unit of the Son Dureta Hospital after the attack in the early hours of September 5. The victim remains in a serious condition.
ABC reports that the Guardia Civil now have two witnesses to the attack.

Read more »

British couple body of the woman had three bullet wounds, while the man had been shot once. A pistol was found nearby.

Their identities have yet to be confirmed, but it's understood a British couple disappeared at the time they are believed to have died.The British Consulate is reported to have been in contact with the Civil Guard in Alicante province in connection with the two bodies found in an isolated area of the Sierra de Bèrnia, in Llíber, on Sunday. There are concerns that they could be a British couple who have been missing since July and it’s understood that the badly-decomposed bodies discovered by a hunter in the paraje de Marnes could have been there for around two months.There is no information as yet on the couple’s identity, however, and there was no documentation which could help in the identification in a rucksack found nearby.La Verdad newspaper reports this Tuesday that the body of the woman had three bullet wounds, while the man had been shot once. A pistol was found nearby.The paper said DNA testing will give investigators information on the couple’s ages, which will then be matched with details of persons reported missing in Spain. The results could take a number of weeks.

Read more »

20 people were involved in the fight early on Wednesday

Two men are in hospital after a massive street fight on the Antonio Machado paseo marítimo in Málaga early on Wednesday involving an estimated 20 people, many of them from Eastern European countries.Both men were seriously hurt in the brawl and it’s understood that one suffered head injuries, while the other was stabbed.
EFE reports that six people are in custody.

Read more »

Woman has been arrested for the Level 2 wildfire in Estepona

woman has been arrested for the Level 2 wildfire in Estepona last week which destroyed more than 500 hectares of land and spread over the border with Casares. The flames blazed for almost 30 hours before they were finally brought under control last Thursday evening.The investigation ruled out an accident or negligence as the cause of the fire, and in fact a municipal employee had seen someone fleeing the area when the fire started in the area of Los Pedregales on Wednesday afternoon last week.The woman arrested on suspicion of having set the blaze is named by Diario Sur as J.T.P., a middle-aged woman who is from Estepona itself, and it’s understood she was taken into custody this Wednesday morning. She’s now been released with charges and will be called in for questioning by a judge.

Read more »

Civil Guard have transported almost three and a half tons of marijuana plants to the barracks in Salobreña

Civil Guard have transported almost three and a half tons of marijuana plants to the barracks in Salobreña, which they found growing in a greenhouse in Molvízar. The owner is reported to have claimed he was growing cherry tomatoes.
Officers found 455 marijuana plants growing there, some of them reaching a height of 3 metres. Their total weight was found to be 3,380 kilos.Europa Press said the man who was growing them admitted to a judge in Motril that he planned to dry and sell his crop, and he’s now on remand for a public health crime. He also faces a charge of illegal possession of weapons for a hunting shotgun found in his home for which he did not have a licence.

Read more »

Wanted drugs smuggler has been arrested in San Pedro de Alcántara

Wanted drugs smuggler has been arrested in San Pedro de Alcántara on an international arrest warrant issued by the authorities in Italy in March last year. Named by EFE as G.D.M. from Angri in Italy, he is accused of being part of a gang which smuggled 30 kilos of cocaine into the country, together with another 30 kilos of cannabis resin.He was arrested last week after National Police identified an Italian guest at a San Pedro hotel as the man wanted by Italy. The suspect was transferred to Madrid following his arrest, where the National Court will handle the extradition procedure

Read more »

Well-known local businessman has been found shot dead

Well-known local businessman has been found shot dead in Ronda, a 55 year old named by Diario Sur as J.M.S. whose body was discovered near the Legion headquarters in La Indiana at around 2.30 on Tuesday afternoon. The businessman is understood to have owned land in La Indiana.A man is already in custody for his murder, an 18 year old named as D.R.F. from Almería who was arrested in Algodonales, Cádiz province, on Tuesday afternoon. He was seen with the victim in his car shortly before the shooting, and then running off to catch a taxi to escape the scene.Sur said the two men appear to have argued over a business matter while driving to a livestock fair being held in the area.The paper notes 18 murders in Málaga province so far this year, compared to the 14 which took place throughout the 12 months of 2008.

Read more »

Police in Ireland have seized 1 million € worth of cocaine

Police in Ireland have seized 1 million € worth of cocaine, sent by messenger service on an aircraft from Spain.The 13 kilos of cocaine were sent as an urgent package from Madrid and intercepted by Spain’s Agencia Tributaria Tax Agency. The decision was taken, after contacting the Garda in Ireland, to allow the package to continue on its route to Dublin, which the Irish Independent said was sent under the description of spare parts.The man who collected the package at Dublin Airport was followed to a rendezvous with another man last Friday, where both suspects were taken into custody.

EFE notes a Marbella connection, but gives no further details of that information.

In Cataluña, a German couple have been arrested after the discovery by the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police of almost one ton of cannabis resin in a van found abandoned in Tortosa, Tarragona. The husband and wife are named by EFE as Isabel B.M., resident in Cambrils, and Erich B., both aged 53.750 kilos of marijuana were also found in the vehicle which, as with the cannabis, was in packets labelled as powdered tomato soup. They are believed to have smuggled the drugs into Spain by sea from Iran.

Read more »

British motorbike left the road and he collided with the crash barrier.

56 year old Briton, named with the initials C.G.H., died on Tuesday evening in Burón, León when his motorbike left the road and he collided with the crash barrier.
It happened at the 106.9 km point of the N-625 between León and Santander.He was the only person on the Triumph bike, with registration WF09WXV.

Read more »

British man who is accused of ill-treating his wife.

Local police in Orihuela Costa have arrested a British man who is accused of ill-treating his wife. La Verdad reports that the woman called the 112 emergency number as she was scared of entering her home after an argument with her husband who was drunk.A police patrol accompanied the woman, who is reported as being very upset, to the local health centre, and then arrested the 42 year old man and took him to the Civil Guard barracks at Pilar de la Horadada.

Read more »

National Police Inspector caught with his pants down.

National Police Inspector based in Ceuta has been arrested by his own colleagues after he was caught having sex with a prostitute while on duty. He was found with the woman in his official car on the outskirts of the Autonomous City on Wednesday.
The Inspector was only assigned to Ceuta some months ago and is reported by EFE to have allegedly threatened the woman into having sex with him.An internal investigation is now under way in addition to the court investigation.

Read more »

Police in Ireland have seized 1 million € worth of cocaine, sent by messenger service on an aircraft from Spain.

There has been news of two major successes in the fight against drug smuggling in Spain and, in the largest of the hauls, police in Ireland have seized 1 million € worth of cocaine, sent by messenger service on an aircraft from Spain.The 13 kilos of cocaine were sent as an urgent package from Madrid and intercepted by Spain’s Agencia Tributaria Tax Agency. The decision was taken, after contacting the Garda in Ireland, to allow the package to continue on its route to Dublin, which the Irish Independent said was sent under the description of spare parts.The man who collected the package at Dublin Airport was followed to a rendezvous with another man last Friday, where both suspects were taken into custody.EFE notes a Marbella connection, but gives no further details of that information.In Cataluña, a German couple have been arrested after the discovery by the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police of almost one ton of cannabis resin in a van found abandoned in Tortosa, Tarragona. The husband and wife are named by EFE as Isabel B.M., resident in Cambrils, and Erich B., both aged 53.750 kilos of marijuana were also found in the vehicle which, as with the cannabis, was in packets labelled as powdered tomato soup. They are believed to have smuggled the drugs into Spain by sea from Iran.

Read more »

Death of Irish boxer Ollie Walsh

Spanish authorities have denied that there any suspicious circumstances involved in the death of Irish boxer Ollie Walsh, 33. Mr Walsh, a former kick-boxing champion from Wexford, had been living in Spain for 18 months before he died in his home in the village of Guaro, 30 miles from Malaga on the Costa del Sol, on August 22.
Police have decided not to investigate the death, and a judge has archived the case. A spokeswoman for the Civil Guard denied reports that fake passports, weapons, needles and hand grenades were found in Mr Walsh's home.

Read more »

Local police patrols in Estepona have been working without radio contact with the central 092 emergency switchboard

Local police patrols in Estepona have been working without radio contact with the central 092 emergency switchboard, and unions say, have had to use their mobile phones to keep in contact. The local police union told Málaga Hoy newspaper it’s due to a fault in the system detected two weeks ago.The CSI-F union is concerned at the effect the fault is having on the service the local police provides to the public, saying they cannot respond to emergency situations as quickly as usual and claiming also a lack of coordination between the different patrols.Estepona’s public safety councillor, Francisca Bernal, said none of the police have to use their personal phones, as in-house mobiles are available to officers when they go on shift. The delay in repairing the repeater station used by the 092 switchboard is due, she said, to the closure of many companies during the month of August.

Read more »

Stephen Kane and Nicholas Bell, both 29, passed on the drugs, which were posted from Chile, for sale to wealthy users on the Costa del Sol

Stephen Kane and Nicholas Bell, both 29, passed on the drugs, which were posted from Chile, for sale to wealthy users on the Costa del Sol, Spanish police claim.
They were among 21 people, five of them French, held in police swoops as an international gang was smashed after an 18-month operation.Nearly two tons of cannabis worth £4.8million was also seized. It was smuggled in from Morocco hidden in baby buggies.Toddlers were wheeled through customs at Ceuta, Spain's enclave on the north African coast, with the drugs in special compartments underneath.Photo - Civil Guard.They hid the drugs beneath pushchair mattresses to get through Customs
A gang which used babies to smuggle cannabis into Spain, hiding the drugs beneath the mattresses of their pushchairs as the smugglers went through Customs, has been broken up by the Civil Guard.The gang was part of a wider organisation which had a separate operation for posting cocaine from Chile hidden in bars of chocolate, while a third group was responsible for transporting stolen vehicles to Ceuta and, from there, to Morocco. The vehicles were sometimes completely dismantled into spare parts to allow them to be passed through Customs.21 arrests have been made in Ceuta, Málaga and Cádiz, and it’s understood that two of those in custody are British, although the Interior Ministry has released no details of their identities to the press. The others are five French nationals, 8 Spaniards, five from Morocco and a suspect from Chile. Another 13 people were not taken into custody but are suspects in the case.More than one and a half tons of cannabis and 300 grams of cocaine were seized during the Civil Guard operation, along with 11 vehicles and close to 60,000 € in cash.

Read more »

Donato Palermo? wanted Italian Mafia chief has been arrested in Marbella

wanted Italian Mafia chief has been arrested in Marbella on an international arrest warrant issued by Italy where he fled a 12 and a half years prison sentence for drug trafficking. Named by La Opinión de Málaga as B.C.M., he is said by police to have been going under the name of Donato Palermo while in Marbella, and is understood to have been arrested in a flat on the town’s paseo marítimo last week.National Police in Málaga said in a statement that the suspect is believed to have held a key position in coordinating the drug gangs which bring cocaine into Europe from Colombia and Brazil for distribution in the Lombardy area of Italy.Evidence described as of interest to the police investigation into the drugs organisation was found in a search of the suspect’s Marbella home.

Read more »

Addiction International makes contact with the Costas

Revolutionary new methods of dealing with addictions hit the Costas.Addictions International offers a range of services to clients with addiction problems. Because of the unique delivery of the programme they are able to support people wherever they may be. The programme is exceptional in that we can reach people with problems even when they cannot access help in the usual ways.Are you an addict?Do you want to recover?24/7 home-based programmes help you and your family and your carers ...
•whatever your addiction drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, the Internet, shopping or anything else
•wherever you are in the world
they help English speakers world-wide
•by any way they can contact you
home-based treatment via telephone, messaging, DVDs, books etc.
If your habits are dominating your daily life and you feel powerless to control the chaos, then it's very likely that you are suffering from an active addiction.
The abstinence-based programmes use detox, the "12 steps", cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling, peer support, coping strategies, drug rehabilitation, coaching and teaching and more to help you and your carers and your family.
Because their help is home-based they can remain in their job, in their family and their community while restoring health, relationships and lifestyle. Contact copsandbloggers@gmail.com
http://www.addictions-international.com

Read more »

Jorge Real,convicted for the murder of Tony and Linda O’Malley, the British couple who died while house hunting on the Costa Blanca in 2002

Jorge Real,convicted for the murder of Tony and Linda O’Malley, the British couple who died while house hunting on the Costa Blanca in 2002, has written a book based on his life and experiences in the turbulent years of South American history in the last century. Written from prison in Córdoba by Jorge Real Sierra, ‘Los Vuelos del Silencio’ is an autobiographical novel which tells the tale of David, a boy who left life on the streets of Venezuela to become a pilot for the drug cartels and the Contras of Central America.The author says he will leave it up to the reader to decide which is fact and which is fiction.On sale from Plaza y Janés next month, his publishers told El País they decided to go ahead in publishing the book as the quality of the content stands alone regardless of the author’s current situation. They also said the text has no connection with the crime for which he was sentenced.
Jorge Real was interviewed in prison by a journalist from El País, who he told writing the book during his time behind bars has helped him to face his internal demons, adding that any profit he gains from it will be for the family of the couple who died on the Costa Blanca. While still maintaining his innocence, he said he can’t find the way to ask for their forgiveness, nor for the hurt he has caused to others in his life.Jorge Real and his brother-in-law, José Antonio Velázquez González, were found guilty in 2006 of the murder of Tony and Linda O’Malley, a couple from Llangollen, North Wales, whose bodies were discovered buried in a cellar in Alcoy in March 2003. Real has another 28 years to serve of his sentence.

Read more »

Body bound at the hands and had a wound to the head, possibly caused by a bullet.

Police in Benidorm are trying to identify a badly burnt body found in the Serra Gelada this Sunday after firemen and police were called out to a blaze near the border with Alfaz del Pi. Diario Información said the man’s body was still burning when it was found beneath a pine tree at the side of a dirt road.The paper said the body was bound at the hands and had a wound to the head, possibly caused by a bullet. It’s believed he may have been killed where he was found.No arrests have yet been made in the case.

Read more »

Second hand car showroom, two restaurants on the promenades in Fuengirola and Marbella raided in Drug Yacht probe

A 9.3 metre yacht which was heading for Britain has been intercepted by the Spanish authorities and found to be carrying 250 kilos of cocaine.Businesses on the Costa del Sol have been raided as part of the operationThe boat had set sail from the Dutch Antilles, and was escorted by the Spanish police into the port of Vigo after its interception.Eight arrests have been made in total, some of them on the Costa del Sol, and the nationalities of those detained are Spanish, Colombian, British, Dutch and Italian. 18 top of the range cars have also been impounded in the operation along with 300,000 € in cash, a jet ski, semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, 60 mobile phones, 20 computers and diverse documents.Investigations were carried out in a joint operation, codenamed ‘Candlelight’, between the Spanish Agencia Tributaria and the British Serious Organised Crime Agency after an organisation which introduced cocaine, heroin and hashish from South America to Britain and Spain was discovered.The bosses of the operation are thought to have been based on the Costa del Sol. Businesses on the coast are thought to have laundered money from the gang, in a second hand car showroom, and in two restaurants on the promenades in Fuengirola and Marbella.

Read more »

British man, who allegedly stabbed his father-in-law with a 25 cm knife.

Diario Información reports on an incident in recent days in the Castillo de San Juan area of Orihuela Costa, involving another British man, who allegedly stabbed his father-in-law with a 25 cm knife. The suspect’s wife and son are reported to have witnessed the assault.

Read more »

British man was arrested after a police chase

British man was arrested after a police chase in the Dream Hills area of Orihuela last Saturday, for allegedly ripping off part of the ear of another man, a 44 year old also from Britain.The injured man was taken to hospital in Torrevieja by police, while other officers tried to capture his assailant. Las Provincias newspaper said he was finally captured in a wooded area next to the AP-7 toll motorway after narrowly escaping being hit by cars when falling down onto the carriageway from a height of 20 metres when jumping over the motorway barrier.The 23 year old is understood to have resisted arrest.

Read more »

Gang boss ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson spotted in Puerto Banus after moving his operation to Spain after a gun attack on his home

Gang boss ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson spotted in Puerto Banus after moving his operation to Spain after a gun attack on his home .The Irish Gangster has set up home on the Costa del Sol with a nephew of the Monk, it’s revealed. Both men survived a gun attack in Spain last year which left their pal, Paddy Doyle, dead. Thompson (28) relocated to an apartment in Marbella four weeks ago, days after a shotgun blast was fired at the front window of his family home in the Coombe in Dublin. The gang boss is believed to have told his associates that he intends to remain in southern Spain for the summer with fellow criminal Gary Hutch. Freddie is currently staying in Marbella with Gary Hutch (27), a nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch. A former courier and robber from Summerhill, Gary Hutch is a longtime associate of Thompson and a number of his pals on the Costa del Sol. Thompson and Hutch were both in a car with their pal Paddy Doyle in Estepona, near Marbella, last year when he was assassinate by underworld rivals. A source told the Herald: "Thompson has kept his head very low of late. He departed the country after the shooting at his family home, which followed a bomb alert close to his girlfriend's home in Crumlin. Thompson has previously established a base in the Marbella area, living in Puerto Banus, a smaller town close to Marbella itself. The criminal narrowly avoided injury in February 2008 in Estepona, ten miles from Puerto Banus, when a gunman opened fire on a SUV in which he was travelling, killing his close friend Paddy Doyle. Gary Hutch was also in the BMW X5 when the shooting took place and also narrowly escaped injury.

Read more »

Keith Abrahams, 40, of Hereford, has been arrested in Spain on suspicion of smuggling £5million of heroin into the UK.

Keith Abrahams, 40, of Hereford, has been arrested in Spain on suspicion of smuggling £5million of heroin into the UK.Spanish Police have broken up a group of Foreign Exchange Agencies who are said to have laundered funds worth around 180 million euros during the last four years.The group appeared to be offering their services to tourists but were in fact dealing with British customers linked to drug trafficking between 2005 and 2009.The Operation began five months ago when officials detected a group of exchange agencies, primarily in Fuengirola, accounting for a disproportionate amount of transfers from pounds to euros despite a lack of British tourists in the area at that time.Investigators have claimed that the agencies played an important role for networks who needed to convert currencies in order to fulfill drug payments.

Read more »

Gary Well, 45, of London, was one of 10 people arrested in a series of swoops on a string of money-changing agencies in Fuengirola.

Gary Well, 45, of London, was one of 10 people arrested in a series of swoops on a string of money-changing agencies in Fuengirola.Costa gang alleged to have laundered £155million for British drug dealers operating on the Costa del Sol has been smashed by Spanish police.The agencies were a cover for British drug gangs smuggling cannabis from Spain to the UK, police said.

Read more »

Armoured Mercedes S-Class limousine was found not far from where it was stolen

German Health Minister’s official car, stolen by thieves last week while Minister Ulla Schmidt was holidaying in Dénia, has been found by the Civil Guard.The German newspaper ‘Rheinische Post’ reported on Wednesday that the armoured Mercedes S-Class limousine was found not far from where it was stolen, and is believed to have been dumped there by the thieves after all the media attention over the vehicle’s theft.
The car was driven the 2,400 kms from Germany by her chauffeur, while Mrs Schmidt made the journey by air. It was taken when thieves broke into her chauffeur’s accommodation while he was sleeping and made off with the vehicle.Just two months ahead of a general election in Germany, the Social Democrat Minister has come under harsh criticism for deciding to bring the vehicle to Spain, which she said was due to official engagements planned during her holiday in Dénia. A spokesperson for the German Health Ministry said Mrs Schmidt acted within the law, and has always reimbursed the government for any private journeys made in her official vehicle.
It was also claimed to be cheaper to drive the car to Spain rather than renting a similar vehicle on the Costa Blanca.

Read more »

50,000 in high-quality fake Euro notes imported into the country every month

Police in Spain have broken up a network which is said to have brought an average of 50,000 in high-quality fake Euro notes into the country every month. The money came into Cataluña from Italy in 20 and 50 Euro notes, and from there, was distributed throughout the country, only being detected as fake once it reached the banks.The 21 arrests over the two-phase operation include the three network leaders and a courier who was detained at the Figueres bus station with more than 66,000 € in fake notes, of a total of 113,000 € seized over the entire operation. Some of the forged money was used to buy more than 16,000 € worth of jamones in Guijelo, Salamanca province, and five people resident in Sabadell, Barcelona province, were arrested in connection with the purchase.30 kilos of cannabis resin were found in one of the property searches carried out by police.Police say that, since the European currency was first adopted in Spain, they have seized more than 6 million € in fake notes.

Read more »

International organisation which sold Portuguese driving licences obtained with fake documents18 people are in custody

joint operation by police in Spain and Portugal has broken up an international organisation which sold Portuguese driving licences obtained with fake documents, selling each for an average of 1,500 €. Their main clients were eastern Europeans who, the Interior Ministry said, often bought HGV licences in this way and then went on to obtain their licence to transport goods.It’s understood the network made weekly trips from their Torrevieja base to Portugal to apply for the driving licences, and is believed to have earned income of of up to 300,000 €.The network also obtained Portuguese residence permits for their clients through marriages of convenience, charging up to 5,000 € for this service. The marriage certificates were used, along with false employment contracts, in order to obtain legal residency in Portugal.

Read more »

David Walter Cook sentenced to 13 years in prison

British driver on trial in Alicante for the death of a teenage moped rider has been sentenced to 13 years in prison in a ruling which, EFE reports, notes that David Walter Cook continued driving knowing that the youngster was trapped beneath his car.
17 year old José Antonio Caro Buendía from Alfaz del Pi died in March 2008 after he was thrown from his moped by a first vehicle, and was then hit by another which dragged him along the road for 2kms before fleeing the scene. The second car was traced to Mr Cook and his partner, Angela Green, a British couple resident in Polop.
The Alicante provincial court said in the ruling released this Wednesday that Mr Cook, originally from Stourbridge, continued driving with the teenager beneath the vehicle before stopping at an urbanisation to manoeuvre the car back and forth and managing to free the body.Mr Cook was also ordered to pay 300,000 € compensation to the victim’s family, while his partner, Angela Green, was given an 18-month sentence for failing to help the teenager.

Read more »

International drugs warrant arrest for 47 year old Italian

man wanted by the authorities in Italy has been arrested at a routine traffic control in Murcia, EFE reports. He is accused of belonging to an international drugs organisation, and was wanted on an international warrant for his arrest and extradition back to Italy.The suspect, named as A.I., aged 47, was driving a moped when he was pulled over by officers and was found not to have a driving licence. It was after his arrest for that offence that further checks revealed he was wanted in Italy.

Read more »

Arrest was made on a European Arrest Order of 41 year old British man

41 year old British man who is wanted on charges of falsification and fraud has been arrested by National Police in Rójales, Alicante.The arrest was made on a European Arrest Order and the man will now be appear in the National Court before being extradited back to France where he faces upto ten years in prison.Named with the initials R.A.B., the order for his arrest was issued by the judicial authorities in France only two days ago.

Read more »

Italian man resident in Elche was undergoing emergency surgery on Sunday after being shot

Italian man resident in Elche was undergoing emergency surgery on Sunday after being shot while sitting in a parked car near a beach between Elche and Santa Pola early that morning. The only information on the 38 year old’s condition was a ‘reserved prognosis’, EFE said.EFE said the victim was with his partner in an isolated area of Arenales del Sol, when it appears they were approached by a suspected peeping tom, believed to be the person who fired the shots. The suspect then fled the scene and is now being sought by National Police.A similar case is reported in the same area two years ago.

Read more »

Five people arrested by the National Police in Benidorm

Two of five people arrested by the National Police in Benidorm in an operation against drug trafficking, managed to make their escape dressed as airline pilots, according to the police Commissioner in the town, Alfonso Cid.
All five arrested were Spanish and had several previous records for drug trafficking, and one of them for murder.They had been watched by the police since March, originally for the illegal sale and traffic of top of the range vehicles, and the police were waiting for the gang at Barajas airport in Madrid on Monday when they returned from Caracas, allegedly carrying drugs. However two escaped by leaving through the pilots entrance.A search in Benidorm meanwhile found 15 kilos of highly pure cocaine, 77 grams of heroin, and two kilos of hashish. 17,000 € and other items were found in a second search.

Read more »

Por una Costa del Sol segura

Spanish police are looking for informers among the foreign community on the Costa del Sol in a new policy which they hope will increase safety in the zone.
Police has offered an email address where people are invited to send any pertinent information and which they will be able to understand in eight different languages. The Police also promise complete confidentiality. The campaign is based around the slogan ‘Por una Costa del Sol segura – For a safe Costa del Sol’.

Read more »

Electro Baza fraud

Police are looking for the owners of an electrical appliance shop in Baza, Granada, who are thought to have defrauded more than 600,000 € from more than 50 clients by asking for loans in the clients’ names from a bank using the clients DNI identity cards. They had told the clients that they had to carry out a solvency check before granting credit.Police say they have not ruled out the fraud being even bigger.
The owners of the Electro Baza shop, a man and a woman closed the shop several days ago and have not been seen since

Read more »

Requested a 15 year sentence for the British man who was driving the vehicle, 57 year old David Walter Cook, and 10 years for his wife,

Autopsy carried out on the body of José Antonio Caro Buendía, the 17 year old from Alfaz del Pi who died last year after being dragged beneath a car for 2 kms, shows that he died from the injuries received while being dragged along the road.
The doctors who examined the teenager’s body told the Alicante provincial court on Thursday that the youngster suffered damage to his femoral artery and went into shock from the extreme loss of blood. The experts ruled out that his injuries were sustained when he collided with a first vehicle, before being hit by the car occupied by the British couple who are on trial for his death.They noted injuries to his legs typical, they said, of being dragged.Further evidence was heard from an emergency doctor who attended the scene where the teenager was found dying, who said he was found face up, while the injuries found on his body were evidence that he had been dragged along face down. It would have been impossible, the doctor said, for José Antonio, to have been capable of moving, leading him to believe the teenager was turned over by another person. He added that medical services found a trail of the youngster’s blood along the length of the 2 kms, and pieces of soft tissue some 30 cms from where he was found. The victim would not, he said, have been able to reach the site where he was found by himself.The private prosecution from the victim’s family is requesting a 15 year sentence for the British man who was driving the vehicle, 57 year old David Walter Cook, and 10 years for his wife, 47 year old Angela Maureen Green. The public prosecutor is maintaining its original application for 13 years for Mr Cook, but has now, EFE reports, reduced the sentence requested for Angela Green down to 18 months in prison.The defence argued police failed to present independent evidence, in addition to testimony from their own officers, to prove the accuseds’ part in the youngster’s death.It’s understood that both defence and prosecution have presented their cases, and it’s now up to the court to give its decision on the verdict and sentencing.

Read more »