Cómpeta arrested seven people in connection with the death of Stephen Mallon

Arrested seven people in connection with the death of Stephen Mallon, the 49 year old Briton who died last week after a street fight in Cómpeta in the early hours of Friday 5th June. Mr Mallon suffered severe head injuries after falling from a five metre-high wall during the fight, and spent 12 days in a coma before he died.The brawl between opposing groups of British and Spanish youths is believed to have involved up to 30 people, and Diario Sur reports that the Civil Guard identified 10 of them last week. The seven suspects were taken into custody on Wednesday morning and are, according to Europa Press, between 20 and 25 years old. No nationalities have been given in reports.The fight took place outside the Pub La Estrella, and it’s believed that Mr Mallon was injured after going to help his 16 year old son and nephew when they became involved in the punch-up. It’s understood, according to the local Mayor, José Luis Torres, that the Mallon family owns a house in Cómpeta, which the Mayor described as a peaceful village currently shared by 36 different nationalities.

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Four Russians have been arrested during a police operation on the Costa del Sol Spain, after injecting their victim claiming he would die in 24 hours

Four Russians have been arrested during a police operation on the Costa del Sol Spain, after injecting their victim with what they maintained to be an experimental KGB virus, claiming he would die in 24 hours.The kidnappers seized a Russian businessman in a street last week in Estepona; a Spanish resort lying 20 kilometres (13 miles) to the west of Marbella. Marbella and it's glitzy neighbour, Puerto Banus plays host to the rich and famous and is the hedonistic playground for the rich and famous. The Russian crime gang threatened their hostage with the so called ‘deadly’ virus to scare him into paying a ransom amount of 12000 Euros ($16500) in return for the antidote, otherwise he would face death within 24hours according to a local report. The victim did endure some adverse symptoms including fainting, fever and vomiting. Their methods have been branded as bearing the typical hallmarks of a KGB style 'kidnap.' Armed Police officers from the organized crime squad in Málaga were on standby when the gang went to collect the ransom payment in San Pedro, just a few miles west of the notorious crime den of Marbella. The four Russians, three men and one woman, aged between 24 and 57, were arrested; three in San Pedro and one in Mijas. The gang now face charges of kidnap, torture and the illegal possession of firearms. This is the second kidnapping carried out by Russians in Estepona this year. A businessman’s wife and daughter were taken for a two million € ransom at the end of March. Police managed to release the captives in that case and made two arrests. The Russian mafia has been gaining pace in Spain, particularly in the Costa del Sol region due to the expanding property market, which has provided an opportunity for illicit gangs to launder money.

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Stephen Mallon remains in a critical condition in the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga

Stephen Mallon remains in a critical condition in the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga
It is now a week since the mass fight in the Axarquía village of Cómpeta last Friday night resulted in the British resident, 49 year old Stephen Mallon, being admitted to the Carlos Haya hospital in Málaga in a coma. Reports indicate that he was called to the aid of his 16 year son and nephew, who also suffered a broken nose and arm in the fight outside a local disco pub, which was allegedly between a group of foreign and Spanish youths.We have received reports that the police took some two hours to arrive at the scene, as the local police station is closed at night, and also that when the ambulance arrived at the scene the medics were not allowed out of the vehicle to attend to the victim. There are conflicting witness reports claiming either that he was hit with a bottle which left him unconscious, or that he fell, or was thrown over a wall to a five metre drop.Cómpeta is a small village where everyone knows everyone else, but for now nobody is speaking publically about what has happened. There were obviously dozens of witnesses to the fight but nobody wants to talk on the record. Even the Mayor, José Luis Torres, has declined to make a statement, although some local residents have said that fights have been a regular weekend event for some time, and that the venue where the fight took place should not be open in the small hours. The fight was at 4am outside the La Estrella pub, close to the Hotel Balcón de Cómpeta. One witness told Diario Sur that the fight started inside the bar, but that the owner threw the people outside. Reports indicate as many as 30 people were involved.The Guardia Civil are still to make any arrests in the case and the local press reports that the investigation is progressing only slowly.

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Avril Flanagan,stabbed to death in a hotel apartment in Orihuela Costa

Autopsy carried out on the body of 20 year old Avril Flanagan, the Irish girl who was stabbed to death in a hotel apartment in Orihuela Costa last Friday, has revealed that she was stabbed a total of 40 times, Diario Información reports.
The man in custody for the murder is her 24 year old ex boyfriend, named by the Irish Times as Alan Daulby from Liverpool. He’s reported by Información to have told the Guardia Civil that he remembers nothing and also refused to make any statement to the investigating judge.The paper says witnesses and friends questioned by detectives claim the victim was due to fly back to Ireland on the day she died to escape the unwanted attentions of the man now in custody. He is said to have refused to accept their relationship was over, which Ms Flanagan is believed to have ended the week before she was murdered.

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Civil Guard officer was arrested with 100 kilos of cannabis hidden in his car

Civil Guard officer was arrested by colleagues in Melilla this week as he tried to board the Almería ferry with more than 100 kilos of cannabis hidden in his car. Officers found 128 kilos of cannabis pollen hidden in the rear door panels of the vehicle and he now faces a public health charge.The officer is based in Melilla and although still officially on active duty is reported by Europa Press not to have worked for some time.

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Headless body of a man found floating in the Regajo reservoir UPDATED

Following the discovery of a decpitated body by youths in a swamp on Sunday, the partner of the victims girlfriend has come forward and admitted the crime. The man presented himself to the Guardia Civil, accompanied by his lawyer, after seeing reports that the body had been found, and feared for his future. He decided that giving himself up was the best option, as he claims to have commited the crime to protect the daughter of the victim. He claims to have killed his his victim with a blow to the head. he then decapitated him and cut of his hands to hinder identification. The body was then tipped into a swamp, bound with ropes, chains and weighted down, which is where the body was later found. The head and hands were buried in a different location. The suspect claims that the victim had been a lot term abbuser of his daughter (the suspects partner), and this was his way of stopping the torture. The female has given a statement confirming the history of abuse. The crime occurred in the victim’s house in Torrent. Apparently, following a violent argument
Guardia Civil recovered the headless body of a man floating in the Regajo reservoir, in Jérica, Castellón on Sunday. The body was found by some youngsters who were canoeing on the water, and have been tied down to a block of bricks. First indications were the body had been in the water for several days and the investigation remains open.

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gang ferried large consignments of hashish from Morocco.

Spain’s Guardia Civil and Agencia Tributaria claimed that four Gibraltar-registered companies were allegedly used to provide logistical support to a gang of drug smugglers based in the Campo de Gibraltar and the Costa del Sol.as they revealed details of a major investigation that led to 12 arrests and 16 tonnes of hashish being seized.Operation Leasing began over a year ago when the two agencies suspected that the gang was relying on legitimate companies to provide backup for their clandestine business.They used a series of legitimate companies in the marine business as fronts to provide vessels for their smuggling operations.
Several boats seized during drug operations were later claimed back by these companies on the false pretence that they had been stolen, or had been leased out.
In this way the smugglers recovered the vessels and further blurred the paper trail.
The companies operated a legal front too and were involved in money laundering, according to a joint statement by the Guardia Civil and the Agencia Tributaria.

The person believed to be the head of the gang – identified only as H.H.G.V - relied on five companies.

One was a law firm in Algeciras, while the other four were allegedly registered in Gibraltar.The Gibraltar companies were not named and were described only businesses involved as in the sale, purchase and leasing of pleasure vessels.“This corporate web provided the appearance of legality to his illicit activities in the Campo de Gibraltar,” the statement said.
The gang ferried large consignments of hashish from Morocco.Over the past year, Spanish law enforcement agencies have seized 16 tonnes of drugs linked to the group.They have also confiscated 10 vessels linked to the companies, as well as numerous mobile and satellite phones and six computers. Properties have been searched in Algeciras and La Linea and several bank accounts have been frozen.
The operation remains ongoing.

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Jimmie Willis, was described as “cold and calculating” by forensic psychologists, has been found guilty of Deborah Hatto murder.

Deborah Hatto, from Crawley, was stabbed to death as she slept in her apartment in Coin, near Malaga, Spain, last June.The mother's blood-soaked body was found in bed by her 10-year-old daughter after she was stabbed as she slept. Her German boyfriend Jimmie Willis, who was described as “cold and calculating” by forensic psychologists, has been found guilty of her murder. Ms Hatto's daughter, who was just ten at the time, told a Costa Del Sol court via video link how she discovered her mother's lifeless body on the eve of her 42nd birthday. Forensic scientists, who examined her body, said there was no sign of a struggle and Ms Hatto was most likely asleep in bed when she received the single fatal stab wound. The murder weapon was discovered next to the mother’s body. Officers from Spain's Guardia Civil said Willis, 60, originally from Frankfurt, had claimed he struck because "he couldn't take it any more." They also said they found traces of her blood on his neck, behind his ear. The Scientific Police of Madrid stated that the wound inflicted on the victim coincided with the knife found at the side of the bed. But in court, Willis said the biological father of Ms Hatto's daughter was responsible for the killing - a claim that was rejected by the court. Willis' lawyers also tried to persuade the jury of five women and four men that he should be charged with unlawful killing with extenuating circumstances. A public prosecutor called for him to receive a 15 year sentence for unlawful killing, but the jury agreed with Javier Florido Martin, representing Ms Hatto's family who said the charge should be murder. Mr Martin said: “I maintained from the outset that this was a matter of murder and not unlawful killing. “The forensic psychiatrists stated that Jimmie Willis was in a perfect mental state, that he was not clinically insane and that he knew perfectly well what he was doing. “The forensic psychologist - in response to questions asked by the prosecution – described Jimmie Willis as 'cold and calculating', 'insensitive' and 'with no remorse whatsoever'. “The jury reached a verdict and declared the accused guilty of murder with no extenuating circumstances. They were 100% in agreement with the family.” Keen traveller Ms Hatto, grew up in Horsham and moved from Crawley to Spain with her daughter three years before she was brutally killed. Willis is due to be sentenced next week.

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Dutchman is accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend in Malgrat de Mar near Barcelona on Sunday.

26 year old Dutchman, named as Ratko H. is accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend in Malgrat de Mar near Barcelona on Sunday.The attack took place in the street just before 2pm with the victim dying shortly afterwards, and then the aggressor injured himself. He is now in a serious condition in hospital.
Reporting restrictions have been put on the case which is being investigated by the regional police, Los Mossos d’Esquadra.

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Spanish lawyer forced to move from his Marbella office to a new base in the UK capital owing to pressure from the Civil Guard investigation.

One of the five lawyers arrested last week in connection with a new money laundering case on the Costa del Sol with connections in Gibraltar and London has now paid the 60,000 € bail set by the judge. He is named by EFE as J.J.G.C. and is the only suspect in the case to have been set bail. He is understood to have spent a night in prison before coming up with the money.The remaining suspects were released with charges, but no bail was required in their cases. Their initials are given as M.T.C.M., M.T.M., S.R., and M.G. Their nationalities have yet to be confirmed, but Diario Sur reports a Spanish lawyer based in London to be the alleged head of the network. The paper says he was forced to move from his Marbella office to a new base in the UK capital owing to pressure from the Civil Guard investigation.It began in 2006, and is understood to have included a search of his Marbella offices, although no arrest was made at that time.Two lawyers’ offices in Málaga province were searched in this latest phase, plus one in Gibraltar and another in London. The organisation is said to have set up companies in Gibraltar and the Virgin Islands to deal with money from the sale and purchase of property on the Costa del Sol, and large quantities of money are alleged to have been defrauded from the tax man in that way.All five suspects must report to court once a month as part of their release conditions

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lynched to death on the Avenida del Pacífico in Málaga on Wednesday night.

man who police believe had moments before attempted to rob a games arcade in the city was lynched to death on the Avenida del Pacífico in Málaga on Wednesday night. It happened a hundred metres from the arcade on Calle La Hoz, El Mundo reports, where witnesses say they saw a mob savagely attacking the man at around 11 pm that night.The weapons used are believed to be a hammer and broken paving stones. The victim was already dead when police arrived at the scene, and is identified by El País as M.B.R., a 37 year old Spaniard.Latest reports indicate that police have arrested two men in connection with the attack.

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24 year old British man has been arrested in connection with the death of his 20 year old girlfriend.

The crime, described by police as brutal, took place Friday lunchtime in a room of an aparthotel in the Playa Marina urbanisation in Orihuela Costa.The man was arrested shortly after in Oliva after a car chase which ended with his British plated Opel crashing in an orchard, and is accused of stabbing the victim several times, once in the jugular, which caused her death. Her body was found in a pool of blood at 2,30pm by her mother and Samur health professionals could only certify her death on their arrival at the scene. The parents of the victim run a local pub and local residents have described the aggressor as being very violent and having a problem with alcohol. El País reports that some allege that previous threats had been made by him against the victim. Her family has been living there for two years.

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Two British men have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Zurgena on the Costa Almeria for smuggling drugs through the post

Two British men have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Zurgena on the Costa Almeria for smuggling drugs through the post .The police became aware that the postal service was being used for cocaine smuggling and began investigations to find the culprits .Last week they targeted a package which had been sent from Argentina to a property in Zurgena .The house had no occupants .The house was then watched until someone came to collect the package , with false identity papers .They arrested two expats , a 30 year old and a 27 year old who live in Roquetas de Mar.
The package was a gift wine case and in the base of the package was enough cocaine to make at least 1500 units for sale at local leisure spots along the coast .
It appears that this could be a common way for drug traffickers to acquire their drugs .

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International cemetery in Benelmadena arrest of a Cuban who is practitioner of religion Santeria he has stolen bones and skulls

International cemetery in Benelmadena on the Costa del Sol has been subject to a series of break-ins into several niches .Investigations have resulted in the arrest of a man who is practitioner of the African based religion Santeria .The suspect is Cuban and it is believed that he has stolen bones and skulls for use in voodoo activities .He is a local man .The missing bones have not yet been recovered .
The National Police were called in when the person who cares for the cemetery discovered that some of the niches , six in all , had been tampered with .Three were untouched but the other three had had bones removed .None of the bodies had been interred recently .This religion was carried to the Caribbean by black slaves from Africa .The religion has changed since it was first introduced , mainly to disguise it from Christian religions , particularly catholicism .

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Civil Guard maritime unit has discovered almost two tons of cannabis hidden on scrub land on the Punta La Polacra in Níjar

Civil Guard maritime unit has discovered almost two tons of cannabis hidden on scrub land on the Punta La Polacra in Níjar. Ideal newspaper reports that a team from the Almería Civil Guard were inspecting the coastline from offshore last Friday, and decided a closer inspection from land was needed of the area of Carnaje Beach.
They found sixty one packages of the drug, amounting to 1,800 kilos of cannabis. Instruction Court No. 1 in Almería has been assigned to the investigation.

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Mijas Diamond and Jewellery Centre raided

Three jewellery thieves have made off with a haul estimated to be between 8,000 € and 20,000 € from a shop in Mijas pueblo, the Mijas Diamond and Jewellery Centre. The owner of the store was inside when the hooded thieves attacked carrying hammers.
Dee Iglesias, co-owner of the store told Diario Sur that her husband had tried to detain one of the theives without success; he was thrown to the floor. Police say it was a professional operation with the thieves dressing as road workers and previously placing a no-entry sign in the Avenida de Méjico to ensure their getaway. A fourth member of the gang drove the getaway car which had been previously stolen and which was found shortly after the robbery.

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Couple thought to have been dealing ecstasy on the Costa del Sol have been arrested

Couple thought to have been dealing ecstasy on the Costa del Sol have been arrested and police have seized a kilo of the drug.According to the National Police, the woman, 26, was caught with this haul in the bus station in Málaga this week.
Later investigations led to the arrest of a man aged 33 in Alcobendas (Madrid).
He is believed to have been supplying MDMA to the woman for resale.A raid on his flat revealed a further 84 grams of ecstasy plus other chemicals, a 40-centimetre machete and tools for creating the drugs.

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Pat McCadden to face Spanish court.

Pat McCadden walked free after being accused of shooting a police officer in Spain may still stand trial.Convicted drug dealer Pat McCadden, 42, was last week told by Judge Gonzalo Divar he would not face court.But a lawyer for the unnamed 36-year-old officer - shot in Marbella in 2003 - has appealed.
Three years ago McCadden was arrested and picked out of an identity parade by the officer, shot by two men who also shot British shop owner Luke Miller.Alleged getaway driver Paul Lesbirel - also picked out by the cop - was cleared last week.
A police source said: "An appeal has been lodged. The officer intends taking it as far as he can." Gangster McCadden claimed to be a businessman importing Italian shoes into Glasgow. He was jailed for 10 years in 1985 for smuggling more than £600,000 of heroin.His lawyer Javier Muriel said: "Pat wasn't the gunman, wasn't at the scene and he's maintained his innocence all along."

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Bulgarian gangster Hristo Vasilev has been shot dead in public

Bulgarian gangster Hristo Vasilev has been shot dead in public in the town of Sant Joan Despi, Barcelona province, in Catalonia, Spain.The news has been reported by the Bulgarian 24 Chasa Daily, which cites the local newspaper El Periodico.
According to the reports, Vasilev was part of a gang of Eastern Europeans who committed robberies and luxury car thefts in Spain and France.The gang had committed a number of daring crimes including one occasion in the French city of Orleans where they held a whole family at gunpoint for several hours until the family opened a save.The gang was eventually busted by the Spanish police but Vasilev managed to get away. According to El Periodico, however, he was shot dead over drugs as he repeatedly stole drug shipments of competing Barcelona gangs.The murder was committed in public by a motorcyclist who chased Vasilev for several blocks.
Hristo Vasilev had been living in Spain for years, and even had Spanish citizenship. He had arrested a number of times for various crimes.At the time he was shot, Vasilev had no ID and was identified through a DNA analysis.

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Pat the Rat, was arrested three years after the officer was gunned down in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella.

Convicted drugs dealer Pat McCadden, 52, was celebrating yesterday after being told he will not face trial.The former shoe importer, nicknamed Pat the Rat, was arrested three years after the officer was gunned down in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella.He spent nearly seven months on remand in jail before being released on bail while a judicial probe continued.A judge has now dismissed the case against the Glaswegian after witnesses failed to identify him and he was told DNA found in a getaway car used by the gunman did not match the Scot's.Judge Gonzalo Divar made the decision after a request to stay proceedings against McCadden by his lawyer Javier Muriel.Muriel said yesterday : "Pat is very pleased with the news."It's been a very long and painful process, with all the problems associated with being publicly identified in relation to such an unpleasant matter as this.

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34 year old Salahidin E.N. from Holland shot to death in Pechina

Man found shot to death on a road in Pechina has been identified in the press as 34 year old Salahidin E.N. from Holland. Sources at central government offices in Almería told Europa Press he was shot once in the chest and was found by a routine Civil Guard patrol on the road to neighbouring Viator on Monday afternoon.Further information from EFE indicates he may have been shot from a moving vehicle. He is said to have had a criminal record from 2004 in Algeciras.

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Police investigations revealed that the gang of smugglers were planning to bring the drugs onto the Málaga coast from Morocco

Eleven people are in custody after a police swoop on a property just off the A-7 motorway near Cajíz where almost a ton of cannabis was seized.Police investigations revealed that the gang of smugglers were planning to bring the drugs onto the Málaga coast from Morocco, and surveillance of the group discovered Almayate to be the point of entry. National Police in Málaga said in a press release on Wednesday that officers were waiting at the finca in Cajíz when the suspects arrived to unload the drugs. They had been brought over from Morocco in a boat which had set sail the day before.Together with the 900 kilos of cannabis, police seized a number of vehicles, some cash

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Alicante ‘Lops Capito’ gangman died and another was seriously injured in a shooting

Man died and another was seriously injured in a shooting in the Juan XXIII district of Alicante city on Saturday afternoon.Police are investigating the motive for the attacks but they think it was related to drug trafficking.On their arrival at the scene SAMU medics could do no more than to declare a man in his 40’s, named with the initials L.I.P. as dead, while another aged 44 and identified as J.G.A.R. was taken to the General Hospital in the city after being shot it the throat and arm.Police say they are searching for a third person who could possibly have been the shooter and is a member of the ‘Lops Capito’ gang. The search has been opened up to other provinces across the country.Local residents have complained about the lack of security in the area, and noted that nobody came forward as a witness to what they may have seen.

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Man wanted for an armed robbery in Barcelona province has been captured in El Ejido

Man wanted for an armed robbery in Barcelona province has been captured in a National Police operation in El Ejido which also took three members of his family into custody. The two women and another man are said to be his wife, mother and brother. They’re charged with selling cocaine and marijuana from their home and it’s understood that police found a large quantity of drugs and cash in a search of the property.The suspect in question was wanted in connection with an assault in Barcelona province, where four armed men stole the drugs being handed over in a deal in Gavá. They got away with two kilos of cocaine after a shootout in which no-one was injured.He’s reported to face three counts of attempted murder and one of illegal possession of weapons, along with a public health crime.

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Raffaele Amato was detained in a joint operation by Italian and Spanish police in Marbella

Raffaele Amato was detained in a joint operation by Italian and Spanish police in the city of Marbella on Saturday. leader of the powerful Neapolitan-based mafia, the Camorra, has been arrested in southern Spain, Italian prosecutors have said.
Amato is accused of eight murders between 1991 and 1993, and of being "the principal, or one of the principal importers of cocaine into Italy". He had been living under a false name on the Costa del Sol, police said. The 44-year-old had been a fugitive from Italian justice since 2006, when a Naples court issued a warrant for his arrest for murder. Police said Amato had once been a key lieutenant of the alleged mafia godfather, Paolo Di Lauro, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2006 for Mafia association, extortion and drug trafficking. However, about five years ago he led a successful breakaway from Di Lauro and took control of the narcotics market in Naples, they added.Raffaele Amato, considered to be one of the chiefs of the Napolitano Camorra Mafia, was arrested in Marbella on Saturday. EFE reports that the arrest took place in a joint Spanish and Italian police operation while the 44 year old man was dining with two members of his family in a restaurant.
Amato has been on the run from justice in Italy since 2006 and is accused of carrying out eight murders between 1991 and 1993.

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Amy Fitzpatrick Mayor of Mijas should erect posters and billboards with Amy's photograph and details

Audrey Fitzpatrick said she was glad to have the opportunity to ask Ambassador Mercedes Rico in Dublin to assist in getting more action from the Spanish authorities. Amy was 15 when she disappeared in Spain on the night of January 1 last year. She left a friend's house to walk about one kilometre to her own home in Calahonda on the Costa De Sol but failed to arrive. The Dublin teenager had lived in Spain with her mother, brother and her mother's partner for some years since moving there from Ireland. A search by Spanish police, including the use of helicopters and tracker dogs, failed to find any trace of her. Audrey told the Herald she would ask the ambassador today to do what she could to persuade the local authorities in the Costa del Sol to erect posters and billboards with Amy's photograph and details in the hope it might lead to a breakthrough. "The local mayor said no when we asked him to put up billboards but we think they would be a great help. I got the idea when I saw billboards in Gran Canaria put up by the local council seeking information on a missing seven-year-old boy. "Our own mayor of Mijas should do the same for Amy," she said. The Dublin mother is also seeking help from the ambassador in her quest to have a meeting with the Spanish prime minister to appeal personally for more resources to be put into the investigation. She said both Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen had met with her personally while taoiseach and she believed a personal meeting with the Spanish leader could help the search. Audrey and her partner Dave Mahon were scheduled to fly back to their home in Spain after today's meeting.

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Mijas Costa 25 year old man had his throat cut on the Sitio de Calahonda development

25 year old man died in the early hours of this morning as a result of being injured in the throat with a knife in Mijas Costa according to the 061 emergency services.
Emergency service personnel were called to the Sitio de Calahonda development after being called by Civil Guards around 3 a.m. where they tried in vain to resuscitate the victim.The judge ordered that the body be removed and Civil Guards are now investigating the crime.

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Estepona British couple attacked and man was stabbed twice in the back, piercing his kidney

National Police are investigating the brutal attack of a 50-year-old British tourist who was stabbed twice and hit over the head with a bottle by a gang of youths in Estepona on May 10.The attack took place when at approximately 4am the victim and a British woman were sitting by the seaside in an area which is frequented by young people who drink and socialise there at the weekends. For unknown reasons the victim was attacked by a group of North African youths who were only a few metres away. One of the youths approached the man and hit him over the head with a bottle. A second youth then stabbed him twice in the back, piercing his kidney.
The gang ran off while the woman managed to help the victim to Avenida España where they found a Local Police patrol.The victim was rushed to the Costa del Sol Hospital where he remains under observation. The police have now launched an investigation to try to identify and capture the group of violent attackers.This is the third case involving a knife attack in less than a week after a young man was stabbed in the Torrequebrada area of Benalmadena while he was stood in the front porch of his house.
In an isolated attack a few days earlier, a man was arrested for allegedly attacking his sister with a knife in Torremolinos. She sustained cuts to her hand.

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National Police has broken up a network of 22 shops which sold manipulated and counterfeit games consoles across the country.

National Police has broken up a network of 22 shops which sold manipulated and counterfeit games consoles across the country. In the first operation of its type in Spain the police moved against the franchises which sold manipulated chips, compatible games cartridges and the counterfeit consoles in the provinces of Madrid, Sevilla, Valladolid, Málaga, Salamanca, Zamora, León, Gerona and Santiago de Compostela.Eight people have been arrested, including the man who set up the franchise system and more than 30,000 chips and other electronic material valued at 922,000 € has been impounded.

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Alan McGregor Heron, 56, lives on the Costa del Sol,his Ferrari California was clocked in a radar trap travelling at 168mph in a 75mph zone

Alan McGregor Heron, 56, lives on the Costa del Sol,his Ferrari California was clocked in a radar trap travelling at 168mph in a 75mph zone on the A-92N motorway, police said adding that it was the highest speed ever recorded in the province.
Policeman clocked him at 159mph .A patrol car was dispatched and intercepted the Briton as he approached the town of Baza to the north east of Granada in the Sierra Nevada shortly after."It is rare to catch anyone driving at more than 200 kmph (124mph)," said a police spokesman. "But to reach the speed of this driver is completely unheard of."It is thought the car was brand new and was being driven with temporary plates issued in Spain.The expatriate, who police said keeps several expensive high cylinder cars at his home in Marbella, was fined 3,600 euros (£3,168) and had his driving licence confiscated.

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Sarah Hunt,finally been jailed after more than four years hiding in Spain.

fraudster who siphoned off thousands of pounds in cash from two restaurants where she worked has finally been jailed after more than four years hiding in Spain.Sarah Hunt, who was also known as Sarah Hopkins, was thought to have fled to the Costa del Sol while awaiting trial for theft and false accounting charges in 2004.
But she was finally tracked down to the holiday resort of Malaga after police circulated her pictures on Crimestoppers UK Most Wanted site.She was jailed for 14 months at Birmingham Crown Court this week.Hunt, aged 34, from Tamworth, stole about £20,000 in takings from two restaurants in Star City, Nechells, and also at the Touchwood shopping centre, Solihull.

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Eight Britons have been arrested for drug trafficking in Magaluf

Eight Britons have been arrested for drug trafficking in Magaluf.
The Guardia Civil in Palmanova on Mallorca say that those arrested acquired adulterated drugs, and then cut them some more before reselling them on in the clubs of Magaluf.The arrests were made in the early hours of Sunday, and a home was raided where quantities of cocaine, MDMA ecstasy and hashish was recovered along with some cash.The eight will appear in court shortly.

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52 year old British neighbour,hurt as neighbour attempts suicide by Butane Gas

Woman who was injured in a gas explosion at her home on the N340 coast road in Almayate Bajo in the early hours of Tuesday has reportedly admitted that she purposely caused the blast in an attempt to commit suicide. She is said to have opened the valve on a butano gas bottle and then lit a cigarette.It came after an incident at her home in the early hours of Monday, where local police arrested her partner’s brother, 42 year old J.A.M.G. The woman, named by EFE as 37 year old N.E.R.P., told officers she had been sexually assaulted.Sheremains under treatment in the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga with superficial burns to 33 % of her body. Her 52 year old British neighbour, named by EFE as M.T.S., was also injured, but has already been discharged from hospital. His wife and two children escaped the explosion unhurt.Five other neighbours were evacuated as a precautionary measure while experts assess the damage caused to their houses. It’s understood that the house where the blast took place suffered considerable damage, and that a wall between that house and the British neighbour’s was destroyed.

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Shooting in Rincón de la Victoria two arrested

The two men in custody are both Spaniards, and were picked up in the early hours of Tuesday, near the scene of the crime, EFE reports. A friend who saw what happened told the news agency that the motive was some sort of personal disagreement, and that the two accused, armed with a shotgun, had turned up at the same square on Saturday night but left when they were unable to find the person they were looking for.
Two men, both aged 21, have been arrested for a shooting in Rincón de la Victoria on Monday night where the victims, a man and a woman, were shot at as they were sitting in a square near the Casa de Cultura in La Cala del Moral. The weapon used is reported to be a shotgun.19 year old S.N.R. was injured in the abdomen and one of her arms, while her friend, 21 year old A.N.R., received injuries to his hands. Both are in the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga.

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Benidorm a Portuguese man has been arrested for theft.

Benidorm a Portuguese man has been arrested for theft. He would break into the personal lockers of the staff in hotels in the town in search of cash and valuable items. He passed the items on to an Argentinean man who has also been detained.

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Benidorm robbery of a branch of Bancaja

National Police in Benidorm has arrested two Bulgarian men in connection with the robbery of a branch of Bancaja in the town last March 22. The two are accused of making a hole in the wall of the bank on the Sunday, and after their arrest police also impounded a stolen Audi car, and a wide range of tools and other items used in robberies.

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Charles Stabler,pensioner was attacked by a burglar at his Benalmádena home

Charles Stabler, 65,pensioner was attacked by a burglar at his Benalmádena home last month, has died of his injuries. The 65 year old had been in a coma in the Intensive Care Unit of Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga, and is reported by Europa Press to have died last Friday, three weeks after the attack.
He never woke from a coma after being hit around the head last month.The burglar, who escaped with just two mobile phones and 30 euros (£27) in cash, fled after ransacking the apartment and setting it on fire.left Mr Stabler unconscious on the floor as flames took hold around him.A neighbour called emergency services after seeing smoke coming from the flat, in the seaside resort of Benalmadena.Police have arrested a 44-year-old Spaniard and he is being held in custody.He is thought to have followed Mr Stabler home from a local bar and forced his way in at around midnight on April 9.Mr Stabler spent three weeks in a coma in intensive care at the Carlos Haya hospital in Malaga.A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "Unfortunately Mr Stabler passed away in the intensive care unit on Friday." An investigating judge will rule on whether the suspect should face trial.

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International manhunt is under way to trace a Bradford man suspected of conspiracy to murder.

Raymond Daniels, 39, extradited from Marbella in Spain, where he had moved to in 2007, last December to face the drugs charges. Now he is feared to have fled abroad, although detectives also think he could be hiding in the UK. has not been seen since walking free from court in March when a judge threw out drugs conspiracy charges against him. Daniels, of Drighlington, is wanted for questioning about a conspiracy to murder Mohammed Nissar Khan – one of his co-defendants on the drugs allegations. But he disappeared after an application to dismiss charges of conspiracy to supply heroin, against Daniels, Khan and three other men and allegedly involving £750,000 of the drug, was granted by Judge Roger Scott at Bradford Crown Court on March 6. The decision was upheld by a High Court judge after a challenge by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Daniels had been in custody awaiting trial in April on the drugs charges, but was released when they were dismissed. Two Bradford men, Christopher Fletcher, 46, and his nephew James Fletcher, 25, were arrested and charged in January with conspiring with Daniels, between June 2007 and May 2008 to murder Mohammed Nissar Khan. They are in custody and due to face trial in July. Daniels, who has links to the travelling community, had not been charged with the murder conspiracy because detectives were awaiting the consent of the Spanish authorities, under extradition laws. That approval came two days after he had been freed from the drugs charges. Detectives in West Yorkshire Police’s Organised Crime Group are checking up on possible leads following a national appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch programme last week. Detective Chief Inspector John Hoyle urged anyone with information about Daniels’s whereabouts to come forward. He said: “Although Raymond Daniels is not a danger to the public in general, if anyone does recognise him they should not approach him but inform the police at once.

“We feel somebody must have assisted him. He has links throughout the country and in Spain and if anyone has information about where he is we are anxious to hear from them.”

Speaking of the drugs allegations, Det Chief Insp Hoyle said: “We presented the evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decided there was sufficient evidence to go before the courts.

“It’s unfortunate that this judgement came before we were able to charge him with conspiracy to murder.”

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Team of armed robbers broke into Dolph Ludgren villa on the Costa del Sol

Dolph Ludgren, who has been married to jewellery designer Anette Qviberg for 15 years, and has two children, has stepped up security at his home following the raid last week.Team of armed robbers broke into the star's villa on the Costa del Sol, tied up his wife, who was home alone, and terrorised her into handing over cash and jewellery.But they cut short their raid on the luxury property in the hills above Marbella after recognising the actor in a family photograph in one of the bedrooms. source told Spanish media: "Things might have turned out very differently if Dolph had been at home.

"The criminals fled as soon as they realised the owner of the house they had raided was someone they wouldn't want to come up against in a fight."

The Swedish actor, who is 6ft 5in tall and has a black belt in Karate, rose to fame with his role as Russian boxer Ivan Drago in the fourth of the Rocky films. He has since starred in more than 40 films and still trains up to six days a week at his local gym. The 51-year-old recently took part in a six-round exhibition fight against a Russian wrestler in Moscow. "It left Anette pretty traumatised," said a source close to the family. "She's Dolph's angel and anyone who messes with her is messing with him."
Spanish police are hunting for the three masked attackers. "Police have got very few leads. All three burglars wore balaclavas and they've no real description to go on," a source said. "They're looking at CCTV footage to see if they can advance the inquiry.
"Dolph's away on business a lot and he's increased security to try to avoid a repeat."Anette has even spoken about leaving the area but Dolph's persuaded her it's a one-off and they should stay put for now."

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Costa Del Sol drugs war is spilling onto the streets of Britain

Detectives fear a Costa Del Sol drugs war is spilling onto the streets of Britain after a kidnapping.
One man had his ear hacked off in a horrific attack.He was snatched along with another man outside an curry house in West Yorkshire and they were driven around for two hours before being dumped near Crosby Marina, Merseyside.Now police fear an underworld eruption and an orgy of violence will follow the attack as the savage drugs war escalates.Two men were kidnapped off a street in Lupset, Yorkshire, before being found by passers by in Crosby.After being snatched and bundled into a Citroen Berlingo van, the pair were subjected to two hours of torture before one had an ear sliced off.
A police source said: "Two men were found badly beaten on the Marina in Crosby, and one had had his ear hacked off.

"It seems a drugs package had gone missing on its way from Spain and the gang were trying to find out where it was.

"The attack was very vicious and there was lots of blood. It looked more like a scene from a movie."Gangs are becoming more brutal and these kinds of attacks are getting more frequent.

"The package was probably from the Costa Del Sol as so many gangs have links there."

The two men, a 48-year-old from Wakefield, and a 52-year-old from Barnsley, have since been released from hospital.Leading the investigation DCI Jon Hoyle said: "We are investigating a serious and targetted assault on two men."We are keeping an open mind as to the motive of the attack and continue to appeal for information.
"These men were subjected to a sustained attack causing serious injuries before they were found by a member of the public in Crosby."

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finca ‘Los Naranjos’ shot at close range with a hunting shotgun

Autopsies carried out on the bodies of two men found dead on the finca ‘Los Naranjos’, on the Camino de los Martínez in Alhaurín de la Torre, on Saturday night have confirmed that they were shot at close range with a hunting shotgun. Neither man was carrying documentation and has yet to be identified, although reports from El Mundo newspaper indicate they could be from South America and are possibly from Colombia.The man arrested in connection with their deaths is the owner of the finca and testing for gunpowder residue is being carried out on the dead men’s hands to determine if either of them shot at the suspect now in custody. There are some reports that both were carrying pistols, and the owner of the finca is reported to have claimed that he defended himself when the two men attacked his property.

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Swedish man arrested for murdering his wife at their home in Torrevieja last Saturday has been remanded to custody

Swedish man arrested for murdering his wife at their home in Torrevieja last Saturday has been remanded to custody by the judge. Judge Iris Valero is in charge of domestic violence cases locally and is understood to believe the murder was premeditated, La Verdad newspaper reports.The paper notes statements from neighbours on the urbanisation where the couple lived, La Siesta, that the victim, 67 year old Mona J., suffered repeated abuse from her husband. The accused, Karl J., aged 66, now faces domestic violence charges as well as the murder charge.He attended court on Tuesday in a wheelchair after being admitted to hospital with dehydration the previous night; he had refused to take in any food or liquids since his arrest last Saturday.La Verdad reports that Karl J. was too drunk to make a statement to police on the day of his arrest.

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Four drug smugglers have been arrested in Cádiz

Four drug smugglers have been arrested in Cádiz in a joint Civil Guard and Customs operation which has seized more than a ton of cannabis from a boat boarded off Puerto de Santa María. Officers discovered 1.1 tons of the drug hidden in a false bottom built into the boat once the vessel, which was flying under the Spanish flag, was inspected in port.The two crew members taken into custody are both Spaniards, as are another two men arrested in Chipiona who are believed to have been the leaders of the smuggling operation.
A search of one of the suspects’ home in Sanlúcar de Barrameda revealed a stash of more than 8,000 € cash, together with three hunting rifles. Eleven mobile phones, a satellite phone and a car have also been impounded along with the boat.

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Scott Harrison has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a court in Spain.

Scott Harrison,former world featherweight boxing champion, was arrested at Málaga airport on Thursday when he got off an Easy Jet flight from Glasgow with his parents. They have told the press that they were aware of a warrant against him, but they did not think it would be acted upon.A warrant had previously been issued for his arrest after he missed a court date last September, and as he has to stand trial in the Málaga provincial court on charges of robbery and of assaulting a policeman and one other in 2006. The recovering alcoholic says he has come back to Spain of his own free will to try and clear up the matter, but he faces up to three years in prison if found guilty. He has already spent five months on remand in the Alhaurín de la Torre prison because of the case and also has had his Costa del Sol home seized by the bank.Scott Harrison has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a court in Spain. Harrison was detained by officers from the country's National Police when he landed at Malaga Airport on Thursday.
The 31-year-old was found guilty of attempting to steal a car and assaulting two men in the vehicle as well as a policeman in October 2006. He spent five weeks in a maximum security Spanish jail after his initial arrest near Malaga. Harrison had a glittering career in boxing, becoming WBO featherweight champion in 2002 and subsequently defending it successfully. But he has faced problems with alcohol, drugs and depression, and in 2006 he was declared bankrupt, stripped of both his WBO title and his licence to box for bringing the sport into disrepute. He was jailed in Scotland last year after admitting drink driving, assault and breaching bail conditions.

Harrison was released from Glasgow's Barlinnie prison in December, after serving four months of a eight-month sentence.

A judge in Spain issued an international arrest warrant after he failed to attend court last September, when he was serving time in Barlinnie.

Harrison, who is battling to get his boxing licence back, was found guilty of the attempted robbery and assaulted, after a drinking binge with his late uncle in October 2006.

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Linekers Bar Fuengirola arson attack

Linekers Bar was badly burned in what is thought to be a deliberate arson attack last week .The bar is part of a European chain of bars owned by the brother of the ex-soccer player Gary Lineker .According to a local person the fire was suspicious and police are investigating some local hooligans .Others say that the fire could have been caused by a local tramp who used to sleep in the doorway and could possible have dropped a cigarette or match into the building . Sometimes the tramp would even light a fire in the doorway and someone has said that he was seen running away from the scene.The first Linekers Bar opened in 1988 in Tenerife and to get this one ready for Easter it was a case of builders working around the clock .Now part of a huge chain the Fuengirola branch opened in 1994.

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Arrested a British couple and their 18 year old son, accusing them of the sale of marihuana

Guardia Civil has arrested a British couple and their 18 year old son, accusing them of the sale of marihuana which they were growing on their finca in Santa María de Nieva, Huércal Overa, Almería.
Ten plants and some 740 grams of the drug were recovered from the scene on April 7, according to a statement just released by the Guardia Civil. They also took some scales and bags of fertilizer.
The Britons have been named as 55 year old John Leslie P., 49 year old Sandra June S., and 18 year old John Terry S. The case is being heard in Instruction Court 1 in Huércal-Overa, and Europa Press reports the court has ordered the parents to prison on remand facing charges of a crime against public health.

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Spanish police said on Tuesday that they have arrested 22 members of the Hells Angels biker gang

Arrested 22 members of the Hell's Angels biker gang in an operation which took place in five provinces. The majority of the arrests – 13 – were in Barcelona , with the remaining suspects taken into custody in Valencia, Málaga, Madrid and Las Palmas. The charges against them range from illicit association, to drugs and weapons trafficking, and extortion.The operation remains open, with more than 30 property searches having taken place so far. Biker clubs believed to be used by the gang members in Barcelona city and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat were also being searched, EFE reports. It’s understood that the Barcelona judge in charge of the investigation has issued a secrecy order.The joint operation by the Mossos d’Esquadra – the Catalan regional police force – and the Civil Guard confiscated military weapons and ammunition, bulletproof vests, a kilo of cocaine and 200,000 € in cash. One of the suspects is reported to have tried to use one of the firearms against a police officer as he was being arrested.

Spanish police said on Tuesday that they have arrested 22 members of the Hells Angels biker gang for drug trafficking, weapons possession, extortion and other crimes.The arrests led to the dismantlement of an "a dangerous group, with a paramilitary structure and which has international connections with other Hells Angels groups", a police statement said.It said the arrests took place in raids in several regions of the country, including northeastern Catalonia, southern Andalucia and in the capital Madrid.Officers seized guns, bullet-proof vests and a kilogram of cocaine.

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Ex Banco Popular bank manager, José Pérez Díaz, known as ‘Pepe el del Popular’, and who fled to Mexico

Ex Banco Popular bank manager, José Pérez Díaz, known as ‘Pepe el del Popular’, and who fled to Mexico after allegedly carrying out a six billion pesetas fraud in Santander 20 years ago, is coming back to Spain.The court here found him not guilty given the passage of time since the office was committed, and that verdict led to him being released from custody in Mexico.Reports indicate he has wanted to return to Spain for some time, and will board a flight today, arriving back here on Saturday. He has told reports that he is coming back to Spain to ‘clear up the case’

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Russian mafia Tambovskaya-Malshevskaya links as three Marbella lawyers arrested

National Court judge, Baltasar Garzón, ordered Kiril Illine Yudasehev to prison on charges of illegal association and money laundering after questioning in Madrid on Friday.One of the three Marbella lawyers who were arrested on Thursday in a new stage of the ‘Troika’ operation against money laundering linked to the Russian mafia, has been sent to prison on remand.The other two lawyers, both Spaniards, Francisco Eloy Ocaña and Antonio de Fortuny, both still face money laundering charges but were released. Ocaña was given five days to find 10,000 € bail, while Fortuny had bail set at a million € and has to register in the court weekly. He is 76 years old and reported to be in a delicate state of health, hence the judge’s decision not to deprive him of his freedom at this stage.Garzón considers the Russian mafia has companies and accounts in financial havens as well as interests linked in the case to Spain, Panama, Lichtenstein and Russia.

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There’s nothing to indicate at this stage the body may be Amy Fitzpatrick’s

“There’s nothing to indicate at this stage the body may be Amy Fitzpatrick’s and we’re not going to rule anything out until we’ve managed to establish an identity or at least the sex of the victim.
“But the area this body was discovered in was well searched when Amy went missing.”The remains were found inside a sewage pipe near Mijas football stadium where a massive search for Amy took place shortly after she went missing on New Year’s Day 2008.Amy’s mother Audrey said: “I am aware a body has been discovered and the search for Amy soon after she went missing was started from the football stadium

.“But I’ve spoken to the Guardia Civil and they’re telling me the body is that of a man.

“I’m confident it’s not Amy’s. For me nothing has changed. I’m still praying nothing bad’s happened to her and she’ll come home one day soon.”Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared aged 15 as she walked home from a friend’s house where she had been babysitting the night before. She is thought to have taken a short cut along an unlit path to reach her home.She vanished with just the clothes she was wearing and no passport or money.

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Gypsy families decided to leave 34 apartments in the Golden Hills development

Gypsy families who had been squatting in an embargoed urbanisation since Sunday have decided to leave and all of them had moved out by the early hours of Wednesday. Police remained at the scene to prevent any of them returning.Between 100 and 150 people spent two nights in the 34 apartments of the Golden Hills development, and moved in there from social housing in Molino de Viento. EFE reports that other families from Sevilla and Málaga arrived on Tuesday morning, but a visit from Mijas Town Hall’s social services department that day convinced the squatters that they should go. The Town Hall has no jurisdiction in the matter however, and the only possibility had the squatters not decided to leave would have been the owner applying for an eviction order to the courts.
The apartments on the development are almost complete, but no work has taken place there for the past two years after it was embargoed from the developer. The development’s current owner is the bank.

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Breast and Buttock implants for between 250 and 500 €, injecting liquid silicone with a type of instrument used by vets on animals

Police in Barcelona have arrested a 63 year old man who allegedly passed himself off as a cosmetic surgeon and carried out the surgery in filthy conditions in his home. Three dogs, a cat and a parrot lived with him in his flat in the El Raval area of the city.
He is said to have performed breast and buttock implants for between 250 and 500 €, and injected liquid silicone with a type of instrument which is normally used by vets on animals. The instrument uses reusable needles, but officers found no facilities for sterilising them on the premises. Another concern is that the liquid silicone used on patients is not of the type which can be injected.His patients came from all over Spain, and he was due to operate on a woman from Madrid on the day he was taken into custody, last Friday. He had another appointment booked for the Sunday.Juan P.L. does not have a licence to practice medicine and is understood to have a history of similar offences in the past. His arrest came about from a complaint from a doctor in the Basque Country regarding a breast implant performed on a patient.
The bogus doctor has been remanded to custody for a public health crime and another charge of the unauthorised practice of a profession.

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Three Costa del Sol lawyers suspected of laundering money forTambov/Tamboskaya group arrested

Police on Wednesday arrested three lawyers suspected of laundering money for Russian mobsters in southern Spain, authorities said.The suspects _ who were not identified by name or nationality _ allegedly worked with a powerful Russian organized crime gang known as the Tambov/Tamboskaya group, Spanish police said in a statement.
Investigators found evidence of bogus financial transactions since the late 1990s that funneled proceeds from criminal activities in Russia into Spain and invested them in expensive houses, cars and other property in the Costa del Sol area through a complex network of companies, police said.Police made Wednesday's arrests and seized property and unspecified assets in Malaga and Marbella, where police said the suspects were found living in luxury.
The arrests were part of an ongoing operation ordered by Judge Baltasar Garzon. In the first phase of the operation in June, police arrested 20 suspects nationwide and seized

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Armed British Landlord demands Orihuela Costa rent

64 year old British man has been arrested in the Horizonte urbanisation in Orihuela Costa for allegedly making threats at gunpoint.The man, who has not been named in reports, is alleged to have threatened other Britons, described as a young group, who are renting property from him, demanding that they pay their rent.
Police say the pistol used by the man was a replica which worked with compressed air.The man faces charges of making threats and housebreaking and entry.

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British man, is in a deep coma after being attacked by a burglar at his home in Benalmádena

65 year old man, reported as British, is in a coma after being attacked by a burglar at his home in Benalmádena on Friday, La Opinión de Málaga reports this Tuesday.The un-named victim is reported to be under treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga and his condition is serious.It happened in an apartment block on Calle Levante on the Alegranza Urbanisation when the pensioner returned home from a local bar. The paper says his attacker was tall with a shaved head and assaulted his victim after following him inside the flat.The assailant is understood to have set the property alight before he made his escape.

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Badly burnt body was found in a waste pipe in La Cala de Mijas possible links to unsolved disappearance

autopsy is to take place on a badly burnt body which was found in a waste pipe in La Cala de Mijas this Sunday.
The discovery was made by a passerby in the area of La Rosa on Sunday morning, a short distance away from La Cala’s football ground, Málaga Hoy newspaper reports.It’s understood the autopsy could take some days to complete, as only parts of the cranium and body had survived the blaze, which it’s believed may have been set only the night before. An initial examination was unable to determine either the sex or the age of the victim.

The newspaper notes the body was found close to the area where the British man, Tony King, killed the Mijas youngster, Rocío Wanninkof, in October 1999. He’s now serving 19 years in prison for her murder.

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Authorities are trying to identify a badly decomposed body which was found floating in waters off Estepona

Authorities are trying to identify a badly decomposed body which was found floating in waters off Estepona on Thursday morning. The discovery was made by a crew member of a passing yacht and the Coastguard were immediately informed.In Alhaurín de la Torre, the woman who was found dead in a parking area used by hire cars on Tuesday met a violent death, according to sources in the investigation quoted by the newspaper, La Opinión de Málaga. There is little detail on the case as it is governed by a secrecy order, but it is known that the autopsy was held on Wednesday and that the woman, said to be in her 30s, died some time ago. Her body was also badly decomposed.No information has been released on her identity, but she is believed to be a woman reported missing some three weeks ago who was renting a nearby house. She was found face down, with her body partially covered by plastic sheeting.

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Marbella arrests

“The international nature of this operation outlines the fact that criminal groups causing harm in our communities have links in many countries.” Four people were arrested after cash, drugs and imitation guns were seized in police raids across England. Two 37-year-olds were arrested at an address in Missenden Road in Amersham. And a 36-year-old man was arrested at a property in Carrington Road in High Wycombe, with a 44-year-old being cautioned and released for possessing cocaine at a house in Highfield Avenue in the town.
A property in Dukes Valley, Gerrards Cross, was also searched.
Raids were also carried in Middlesex, which saw three arrests made, Amsterdam, where two people were arrested in the same operation, in Marbella. The warrants were carried out following a lengthy investigation from Thames Valley Police's Organised Crime Group, with the assistance of officers in Holland and Spain.
All the people arrested have been released on bail until various dates in late May and early June. Det Supt David Poole, head of Specialist Operations, said: “This successful operation was complex, but completed with the help of more than 100 officers from a variety of organisations. “I hope the action we have taken reassures people that we do act on intelligence and use the information given to us by the public to arrest and disrupt criminal gangs.

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Two Britons and a German have been arrested by the police in Mallorca and charged with negligent homicide

Two Britons and a German have been arrested by the police in Mallorca and charged with negligent homicide after a 32 year old British man died following a fight last Saturday night in the Puerto de Alcúdia in Mallorca.The Britons have been named as 23 year old Matthew James F. and 27 year old Graham Loye W.The German is 23 year old Benjamin J.The three of them were involved in the fight with the fourth man, the 32 year old Briton, as yet un-named in reports, who was helped by the police at the time but who told them he was fine and wanted to go home. Hours later he was found in his own vomit and taken to the Son Dureta Hospital where he later died.All three arrested are residents in the Puerto de Alcúdia. The investigation remains open as the results of the autopsy are awaited.

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British man arrested on the Costa del Sol

Details have emerged on the violent burglary gang arrested on the Costa del Sol in the Civil Guard operation ‘Ronin.’ Their nationalities have been given as 7 Spaniards, 2 Moroccans and one each from Belgium, Colombia, Argentina and Britain.The leader of the gang is Spanish.According to information from Diario Sur, officers in Operation Ronin carried out 17 property searches as part of their investigations: in Málaga city itself, and, in the province, in Fuengirola, Mijas and Marbella, as well as in Melilla.
The group is said to have operated in Fuengirola and Mijas, targeting fast food restaurants and private homes.

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Marta’s family were in Madrid this weekend, collecting signatures in support of ‘cadena perpetua’ – life imprisonment

Monday was the team’s 15th day at the site, with the search centred on the area where newspapers found show it to be the spot where refuse was deposited after collection on the night Marta’s body was allegedly dumped.Marta’s family were meanwhile in Madrid this weekend, collecting signatures in support of ‘cadena perpetua’ – life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. They now have 100,000 signatures asking for a referendum on the matter.
It’s now been two weeks since the search began in Sevilla’s main rubbish tip in Alcalá de Guadaíra for the body of 17 year old Marta del Castillo, after the main suspect for her murder, her ex boyfriend Miguel Carcaño., admitted to dumping her body in a rubbish container in Sevilla City. He had originally said he had thrown the body into the Guadalquivir River.The search at the tip has only stopped in the past fortnight to allow the team to rest on Sundays.

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Granada executions of two South Americans

Police in Granada are investigating the death of two men, whose bodies were found by a passerby on the right-hand bank of the río Genil on Thursday morning. They were lying in a ditch on the Camino de Perchil. Both were tied up and both had been shot in the head.
The men are believed to be from South America, in their thirties, but it’s understood that they have yet to be identified as neither of the two were carrying any documentation.

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17 year old girl has died after being shot twice with a shotgun in the bedroom of her villa in Alfaz del Pi in Alicante

17 year old girl has died after being shot twice with a shotgun in the bedroom of her villa in Alfaz del Pi in Alicante.It happened in Saturday morning between 9am, when her mother went to open her local business, and 12 noon when the body of the victim was found by the cleaning lady at the house at 10, Camí de Coves. She called the girl’s mother who rushed home only to find the body of her shot daughter.It appears she was shot with her father’s shotgun which was kept in the house.As yet there have been no arrests in the case, as it is hoped the autopsy will bring some new evidence. It appears the shotgun is now missing and no motive has been ruled out as investigations continue. Both the victim’s parents have given statements to the Guardia Civil.The family is well known in Alfaz, given that they run the central ‘Avenida’ bar in Avenida País Valenciano.

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Arrest of 13 members of a gang which specialised in violent burglaries on the Costa del Sol.

The Spanish Interior Ministry says more than 30 crimes, most of them involving violence, have been solved with the arrest of 13 members of a gang which specialised in violent burglaries on the Costa del Sol. Dubbed ‘Operación Ronin’, it’s been described by the government representative for Málaga province, Hilario López Luna, as a ‘brilliant’ operation.Their set-up was highly organised with a hierarchical structure down from the leader to the chief of operations, with others responsible for logistical support and then those who carried out the assaults. The leader maintained a tight rein on the network and only handed out weapons before each assault, to be returned after the crime was committed.The weapons seized include a Kalashnikov-type submachine gun complete with silencer, two hunting rifles, seven side arms and two machetes.
Also seized were 5,000 € in cash and other items needed for carrying out the assaults: clothing including gloves and balaclavas, rope and defence sprays.The investigation began in January and is instructed by Court No. 1 in Fuengirola.

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Spanish police busted five people over heroin trafficking, including three Bulgarians.

Spanish police busted five people over heroin trafficking, including three Bulgarians.The confiscated 31 kilos of heroin are the largest quantity caught in the last years, the Spanish police informs.The drugs have been smuggled to Spain by the Bulgarians and have been destined to a Turkish national said to live in Valencia and have close ties to a Turkish mafia dealing with heroin trafficking.The heroin has been found hidden in an expensive automobile with Bulgarian license plates. The illegal drug was placed in one of the car's doors and underneath the back seat.
The other two alleged criminals were a Turkish national and a Spaniard.

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Mans body who died some eight years ago have been found in the Sierra Nevada

Mans body who died some eight years ago have been found in the Sierra Nevada.The body was found on Thursday in an area of difficult access on the mountain range, and now the Guardia Civil have asked for the help of the public in identifying him. They say at the time of his death he would have been about 60 years old, was slim, and about 160cms tall. They have published photos of the man’s trousers, in which some pesetas and Portuguese escudos were found.

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Miguel Carcaño, has tried to take his own life in the jail at Morón de la Frontera.

Miguel Carcaño, has tried to take his own life in the jail at Morón de la Frontera.He tried to hang himself using a cord from a track suit, but was stopped for carrying out his wish by other prisoners.He had left a letter in his cell, addressed to his lawyer, in which he insists that Marta’s body was thrown into the rubbish bins.Antonio del Castillo, Marta’s father has asked ‘If he is so scared he is protecting someone and would rather end his life than reveal who it is’.‘All I want to know is where my daughter is, and I don’t care what happens afterwards’.Miguel was not injured in his suicide attempt and prison authorities have made it clear that the cord he used was from another prisoners track suit and not his own which had been removed for his own protection.

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Spanish police have arrested more than 50 people, most of them Britons, suspected of involvement in a network that falsified identity documents

Spanish police have arrested more than 50 people, most of them Britons, suspected of involvement in a network that falsified identity documents for clients around the world.They have also identified around 100 British citizens living in Spain whom they suspect of using the fake documents to obtain bank credit, mostly mortgages of between 200,000 and 1.5 million euros.The gang's operations may have defrauded some 25 financial institutions in Spain of around 60 million euros (80 million dollars), police said in a statement.Spanish authorities have also provided information to the international police agency Europol on more than 1,000 people in 26 countries in the five continents suspected of obtaining fake documents from the gang.Police in the eastern Mediterranean resort city of Alicante opened an investigation in early 2007 after spotting websites that offered fake driving licences, residence permits, birth certificates, academic qualifications and other official documents, the statement said.
In May 2007 they arrested two men and a woman, all Britons, in the Alicante region and seized equipment for producing fake documents, guns and ammunition in raids on two properties.Since mid-2008, 50 people, most of them British, have been arrested in various regions of Spain, and the operation is continuing."It was a perfectly structured organisation, capable of successfully producing all types of fake documents, including a vast range of clients and able to set up a full network of collaborators, which meant a high volume of fake documents were generated - more than 1,000 documents in three months," the statement said.The websites were administered in the United States but had virtual offices in the British colony of Gibraltar, off Spain's southern tip.Two of the Britons arrested, identified only by their initials AK and DM, were located last November through appeals from the British charity Crimestoppers and Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency.The investigation also led to the identification of a British man who was wanted for a murder in the southern city of Malaga, and who police believe may have fled to Britain using fake documents supplied by the gang.investigation has also led to the identification of another British resident, wanted in connection with a homicide carried out some years ago in Málaga. Spanish police say this man has now returned to the U.K. using a fake identity created by the group now detained.The Guardia Civil has described the group as perfectly organised, with the ability of obtaining all types of fake documents, and with a wide network of clients and collaborators.
They are thought to have generated more than 1,000 false documents over a three month period.

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James “Pancake” Taylor 29-year-old was released only because British police promised to return him if he was needed by the Spanish courts.

James “Pancake” Taylor 29-year-old was released only because British police promised to return him if he was needed by the Spanish courts.Taylor was arrested in the popular ex-pat playground of Marbella last year.He was allowed back to Merseyside under an international legal process known as ‘provisional liberty’.This occurs when an arresting authority informs officials in the accused’s home country what has happened. The accused is then sent home but only if the home country's police agree to take responsibility for returning him if required.Taylor, who was named as a leading member of Liverpool's underworld at a hearing before city licensing magistrates in 2005, was arrested on September 24 last year.It is believed Spanish police were at the time investigating a violent drugs war.They arrested Taylor over the shooting of a British man who was attacked following a nightclub brawl last AugustA group of British men - including several from Merseyside - and men of Middle Eastern descent had started a fight in the Nikki Beach bar in Las Chapas, Marbella, in the early hours of August 23.Two Iranians were arrested initially and gave statements to the Udyco arm of the police – which combats organised crime – before Taylor was arrested.He was held for more than three weeks before being released on provisional liberty. He did not have to pay any money for bail.The Spanish authorities list his case as ‘pending’.

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Boris Slavov, was sentenced in Spain to 7 years behind bars over the attempted murder of his girlfriend.

Boris Slavov, was sentenced in Spain to 7 years behind bars over the attempted murder of his girlfriend.The information was reported in the Spanish "La Provincia" electronic media.The tragic incident occurred on September 15 2007, in the southern side of Spain's Gran Canary island. Boris and his girlfriend Sibyl had an argument in her apartment. The man grabbed a knife with a 10-cm-long blade and stabbed the victim in the chest and the stomach. He then refused to offer any help and despite her pleas remained inside the house for 6 hours, waiting for Sibyl to die from blood loss. He told her he would kill himself with the same knife.Only after the victim revealed she had EUR 1,000 in her closet and asked Boris to take the money and use them to find help, the perpetrator left the house with the stash. Instead of seeking help, he went to airport, trying to flee the island. In the mean time Sibyl managed to find help herself. Boris was arrested by the authorities at the Gran Canary airport.The incident's cause is listed as alcohol overdose. According to the magistrates, the amount of alcohol, consumed by Boris Slavov was the extenuating circumstance, leading to the lighter sentence. The Las Palmas Court judged that the man committed the crime under the influence of alcohol and should receive only 7 years behind bars.

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