35 year old man from Ecuador has been found with 800 grams of cocaine in his luggage

35 year old man from Ecuador has been found with 800 grams of cocaine in his luggage at El Altet airport in Alicante.Customs officials stopped the man who had hidden the drugs inside large wooden pestles. They say they stopped him because of his nervous behavior.

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Albanian burglar gang has been broken up by the Guardia Civil on the Costa del Sol

Albanian burglar gang has been broken up by the Guardia Civil on the Costa del Sol, who arrested the eleven Balkan citizens, eight men and three women on Tuesday.
A judge in instruction court four in Torremolinos yesterday ordered the eight men be held in prison on remand, while the three women were released although they still face charges of money laundering.The group were arrested in a series of operations in Benalmádena, Fuengirola and Málaga City.

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Spanish Customs says its officers have seized a Venezuelan-flagged fishing boat the Dona Fortuna carrying 5.5 tons of cocaine

Spanish Customs says its officers have seized a Venezuelan-flagged fishing boat carrying 5.5 tons of cocaine worth about $316 million. Five Venezuelan crewmembers are under arrest.The agency says the 52-foot boat Dona Fortuna had been under aerial observation for three days and was seized as it approached the southwestern Canary Islands.Officers boarded the vessel early Thursday when it was 900 miles, northwest of Las Palmas.A Customs statement says officers also intercepted a high-speed boat loaded with gasoline that was preparing to depart from the northeastern port of Noya. It says the agency suspected it was about to rendezvous with the Dona Fortuna.

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Prince of Marbella,Monzer Al Kassar convicted of conspiring to sell weapons worth $1 million

US prosecutors asked a judge on Monday to sentence a Syrian arms dealer convicted of conspiring to sell weapons worth $1 million to Colombian rebels to decades in prison.
Monzer Al Kassar, 63, described by prosecutors as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers, was convicted in November of agreeing to sell weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to protect a cocaine-trafficking business and attack US interests.Kassar, a longtime resident of Spain known as the ‘Prince of Marbella’ for his lifestyle in the glitzy seaside town, will be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, along with Felipe Moreno Godoy, a Chilean, 59.Kassar was extradited after Spain received assurances from US authorities he would face neither the death penalty nor a life sentence without chance of parole.In a sentencing memo on Monday, prosecutors asked for Kassar to serve a prison sentence ‘substantially in excess’ of the 25-year minimum he faces, but ‘less than life.’‘From his palatial estate along Spain’s Costa del Sol, Al Kassar commanded an arms trafficking network of criminal associates and front bank accounts that spanned the globe,’ the memo said.In this case, the memo said, he agreed to supply 12,000 weapons to the FARC, which ‘he believed intended to use the arms to kill Americans.’Kassar’s defense lawyers, who argued during the trial he was a legitimate arms dealer, asked in separate court papers for a sentence of 25 years, the minimum he can receive.‘There were crimes of greed, not crimes of terrorism,’ said the lawyers. ‘All this for a crime-really, a DEA sting operation-in which nobody was harmed,’ they said, referring to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Kassar ‘will likely die in prison in a foreign country ... thousands of miles from his wife and children,’ the lawyers said.The prosecution case was based largely on evidence gathered by two undercover operatives who posed as FARC arms buyers and videotaped negotiations in Spain with Kassar and Moreno.Both were convicted on a host of charges including arms sales, conspiracy to kill US officials, conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization and money-laundering.The US embassy in Madrid said Kassar had been selling weapons since the 1970s to the Palestinian Liberation Front and clients in Nicaragua, Bosnia, Croatia, Iran, Iraq and Somalia.

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Discotheque and bars doormen on the Costa del Sol sold stolen luxury cars to clubbers

Networks of stolen luxury vehicles has been broken up by the authorities in Málaga. EFE news agency reports that there are 15 people arrested and five more indicted in the case so far.It seems that the gang were supported by a group of discotheque and bars doormen on the Costa del Sol, who offered clubbers the vehicles.The gang removed chassis numbers and faked documents to go with the vehicles and the total amount of assets now embargoed by the police has been estimated at 26 million €.
Some of the vehicles were allegedly set on fire or lost so that money was also claimed on insurance, when in fact they continued on the road under a new identity.Four homes were searched in Málaga province as part of the operation, and ten cars have been embargoed. The case is being organised by the Instruction Court Four in Torremolinos.There is no detail as yet on the nationalities of those detained.

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Nigel Hunt,arrested at Madrid airport after he flew in from Thailand.

Nigel Hunt, from the Rawtenstall area of Lancashire, was jailed for five and a half years in 2004 for conspiracy to supply controlled class A drugs. But he absconded from Kirkham Prison in August 2006, prompting a manhunt which ended in his arrest at Madrid airport after he flew in from Thailand. Lancashire Police said he was currently awaiting extradition to the UK. There is no hiding place and we will work with our colleagues across the globe in order to bring people to justice Det Insp Simon Brooksbank, Lancashire Police The force's Serious and Organised Crime Unit was granted a European arrest warrant in December 2006. It allowed officers to make inquiries through Interpol and they learnt Hunt was due to travel from Thailand to Spain on 12 February. Lancashire officers worked closely with their Spanish colleagues to ensure that Hunt was arrested as he landed, the force said.

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Sotogrande,two alleged drug traffickers have drowned off the coast

Two alleged drug traffickers have drowned off the coast of Sotogrande, and another person was found suffering from severe hypothermia as the Guardia Civil broke up a drug running operation off the luxury urbanisation on Tuesday.It’s thought the three were trying to bring some 350 kilos of hashish onto the Spanish coast. The survivor was first spotted walking along the coast in wet clothes, and a further search revealed the 7 meter semi-rigid boat containing the drug in 11 bales. The first body, carrying Moroccan documents, was a few metres away and the second was found on Wednesday morning some 400m from the Tiburón beach.On Tuesday afternoon Guardia Civil officers patrolling the coast in Sotogrande came across a disorientated Moroccan man walking around in wet clothes. Officers suspected that the man had recently disembarked from a boat and set about searching the area. They found a seven metre long boat in the mouth of the Guadiaro river and discovered the dead body of another Moroccan citizen floating in the water some metres away. It appears that the strong tide and the eleven packets of hashish on board, which weighed some 350 kilos in total, made the boat capsize.After a more in-depth search of the coast, the Guardia Civil found the body of a second person at 9 o'clock on Wednesday morning some 400 metres from the Tiburón beach. The authorities are trying to identify the victim.

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Plans are underway to arrange the final farewell to Gary Dunne, 22, of West Derby, who was murdered on the Costa Del Sol by a machete-wielding killer

Gary’s dad Stephen is set to travel to Spain to sign the power of attorney document allowing the body’s long-awaited release.He will go to Malaga hospital where his son’s body is being kept and wait as the remains are placed in a zinc coffin.
The family must hand over a cheque for £10,000 to the Spanish authorities to complete the repatriation.Plans are underway to arrange the final farewell to Gary Dunne, 22, of West Derby, who was murdered on the Costa Del Sol by a machete-wielding killer.After a long delay due to Spanish hygiene laws, it seems certain the Everton fan’s body will be back in Merseyside in the next fortnight.Church officials have now agreed to allow his long-awaited funeral to be held at the cathedral.It is rare for the stunning building to be used for public funerals and last happened for 11-year-old Rhys Jones.
It will hopefully take place in March, followed by a burial because cremation was expressly against Mr Dunne’s family’s wishes.Everton FC have also offered the use of one of their stadium suites for the funeral.Upton- based funeral director Sue Porter is waiving the majority of her costs in sympathy for the Dunne family.She said: “Gary’s parents wanted to have something special. When I phoned the cathedral a few weeks ago, they were already aware of Gary’s situation.“The family has waited such a long time. Once the funeral is over, they will be able to start grieving properly.”

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17 Time sharers were arrested in Mijas Costa

17 people were arrested in Mijas Costa on Wednesday in connection with the fraudulent resale of time share properties.The authorities say the compliant placed by two British people has stopped the fraud taking on massive proportions.The two Britons told the National Police that a company based in Mijas Costa had phoned them and offered them the possibility of advertising and selling their time share rights, for which they only had to pay some management costs.A search of the company office in an urbanisation in Mijas revealed several people working as phone operators, and the 17 arrested include the company administrator and several collaborators. Documents have been removed for study.

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Seven properties in Sotogrande siezed

Seven properties in Sotogrande belonging to people or companies forming part of the investigation in to corruption being carried out by Spanish High Court judge Baltasar Garzón have been impounded. Francisco Correa, the suspected mastermind in the scam which has engulfed the Partido Popular, was arrested last Friday at his Sotogrande home and transferred by police to Madrid.

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Lex Life over hundred Marbella residents, the majority of them Britons, could lose their homes after an alleged 40 million euros Icelandic bank fraud.

Over hundred Marbella residents, the majority of them Britons, could lose their homes after an alleged 40 million euros Icelandic bank fraud.The case is being investigated by San Roque court although the majority of victims are in Marbella. It centres on the Icelandic bank Landsbanki that was recently nationalised in the world financial crisis and its Luxembourg subsidiary Landsbanki Luxembourg SA which is in liquidation and has suspended payments.
These along with the Luxembourg insurance company, Lex Life and Pension SA, have been denounced for deceitful publicity and fraud by the law firm Martínez-Echevarría, Pérez y Ferrero that is representing 28 of those affected, all foreign residents in Spain. The lawyers believe that the number of those affected is over 100.
Amongst those included in the legal action are three investment advisors operating on the Costa del Sol and dedicated to serving Britons in Spain. Britons are said to be the highest nationality group affected and include pensioners and the owners of properties of high value.It was back in 2004 that investment advisors started to sell to the British market on the Costa del Sol a financial product of an insurance company for a Luxembourg subsidiary of the Icelandic bank. It guaranteed the mortgage of the property owners. It consisted of a mortgage on the property of around half a million euros in each case and invested this money in financial products not only to pay the capital interest on the loans but also to earn additional income. The clients were lured by the offer that the loan was self-financing with zero risk and secure income. In the event none of these promises were true.

The offer was widely marketed in the English media on the coast. Those taking out the products were also assured that should the title holder die it would reduce the tax liability of the heirs. The lawyers bringing the action stress that in Spanish law such a device was not possible and hence the offer was a fraud. Indeed the scheme offered to Britons on the coast had been illegal in the UK since 1990. Under the terms of the Landsbanki equity release scheme, borrowers could take a quarter of what they raised in cash, but had to put three-quarters in an investment fund run by Landsbanki.

The Costa del Sol Action Group that fights against financial fraud and mis-selling on the coast warns on its website: “One such project that Landsbanki are involved in is the short term lending currently being advertised erroneously in Spain as “equity release” (the ads talk of reductions in Spanish succession tax and then the borrower is persuaded to enter into a renewable 5 year loan i.e. renewable at the bank’s discretion).”Thanks to the success of the marketing campaign in 2006 the bank opened an information office in Nueva Andalucía. From there all monies were channelled to Luxembourg. The lawyers again say that the capital had not been insured and even less so the auto-financing scheme and the amounts that were paid in lost value. The tragic result is that with the collapse of the Luxembourg based bank those who entered this scheme are left without any cover and are in danger of loosing their homes. Not surprisingly the bank has closed its office in Marbella and cut all communications with its clients.

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German has been detained in Vejer by the organised crime and drugs squad of the National Police

German has been detained in Vejer by the organised crime and drugs squad of the National Police on an international arrest warrant in the town of Memmingen. It is stated that he has evaded justice in his home country since 2002 when he was convicted in selling hashish and for threatening police with a knife when they attempted to apprehend him.

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Ex boyfriend of Marta del Castillo, the 17 year old girl who has been missing for 21 days from her home in Sevilla, confessed to her killing

Ex boyfriend of Marta del Castillo, the 17 year old girl who has been missing for 21 days from her home in Sevilla, on Saturday confessed to her killing.20 year old Miguel C.D. told police that he had thrown her body into the Guadalquivir River. He had got into an argument with her and hit her with an ashtray until she was dead. He then called a friend of his, named with initials S.B.P. who has now also been arrested, who helped him to throw her body from a quiet pedestrian bridge. A helicopter in the search for the body .He had been missing since her disappearance but was arrested by police on Friday.National Police and Guardia Civil are to restart their search for her body on Sunday in an area between Camas and the Isla de la Cartuja.Marta’s shattered family have made a call for justice, and promised to fight for it. Marta's father Antonio.Her cousin Sandra told the press that the man who has been arrested was Marta’s boyfriend a long time ago, and they went out together for about a month, but had been friends before that. Her uncle in a brief statement to the press called on the media not to refer to her killer as her ex boyfriend, as a relationship of a month is not enough to describe it as such.

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National Police have broken up a network which defrauded four million € from 70 businessmen in Spain, Portugal and Holland.

National Police have broken up a network which defrauded four million € from 70 businessmen in Spain, Portugal and Holland. They caught out their victims by saying that they were businessmen representing Italian investors and offered loans for a share in the profits. Six arrests have been made, four of them in Marbella, one in Ibiza and another in Alicante, according to a police statement. The fraudsters set up a group of companies, based in Marbella, but with links to Alicante, Ibiza and Barcelona. Before the victims signed the contract they had to pay some costs and what was described as for insurance on the money requested.As part of the operation police have embargoed four properties worth more than a million €, together with several top of the range cars, and blocked 400,000 € in current bank accounts.

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13 people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Valencia after a violent theft

13 people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Valencia after a violent theft of drugs which they later sold on.A statement from the Civil Guard says that in some of the thefts the accused dressed up as Guardia Civil. The operation started on Feb 7 with the arrest of two women and four men, one of whom is implicated in an attempted murder in Benetússer, Valencia. Three kilos of marihuana has been recovered in the operation and one of the arrests was made inside the Albocàsser jail. It seems part of the stolen drugs were introduced into the prison by family members. Investigations in the case continue.

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Two notaries and a bank manager have been arrested and are indicted to appear before the courts in Paterna.

A financial fraud from two fraudsters could see some 600 families being left without their homes in the Valencia region. Two of the men acted as money sharks and offered loans, but only taking property as security, and charged far more money than what was officially signed at the notary.The police say they have already stopped one of the people affected by the fraud from taking his own life by jumping in front of a train because of the case. The names used by the financiers were Hipoval and Renew House, both registered in Valencia. Newspaper, Las Provincias, reports that the alleged fraud now amounts to 10 million € and the number of people affected is already more than 1,000.

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La Carolina urbanisation in Marbella body found

body has been found in a home in the La Carolina urbanisation in Marbella. The victim is a 68 year old Iraqui man who had been stabbed to death and who becomes the second violent death in less than a month in the area, following the express kidnapping and death of local businessman Fernando Moreno.Sources at the Government Sub Delegation offices in Málaga told the EFE news agency that the body in La Carolina was found at 11am today, and that the National Police has opened an investigation with all options open.

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Two cocaine laboratories have been broken up by the police in Alicante and Murcia.

Two cocaine laboratories have been broken up by the police in Alicante and Murcia. Seven people have been arrested as part of the operation in Alicante, Elda, Sax, Orihuela, Beniel and Cabezo de Torres. More than three kilos of cocaine were recovered with 2 kilos of a substance to cut the drug and 47,000 € in cash.

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Morocco biggest drug swoops netted about 100 people

Two Moroccan courts Monday began hearing suspects after one of the country's biggest drug swoops netted about 100 people, a source close to the investigation said. A military court in Rabat started questioning some 70 members of the army and police force, while 30 civilians began appearing before a Casablanca court. The detainees were suspected of drug trafficking, corruption and failing to report criminal offences. The network smuggled drugs from the northern city of Nador to Spain and other European countries, the source said. He described the arrests, which began in January, as a big blow to drug trafficking in Morocco. The north African country is the world's second biggest hashish producer after Afghanistan.

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Polish drug dealers, who headed a gang, were detained within the so-called ‘Scorpio action,’ when police rooted out the main amphetamine distribution

Two Poles detained in Malaga, southern Spain, in 2007, on charges of drug trafficking and crimes committed against social welfare will face over 23 years in prison. The Poles were sentenced in Spanish courts today.The convicts will also have to pay penalties - the first of them amounting to 750,000 euro and the second 150,000 euro.The Polish drug dealers, who headed a gang, were detained within the so-called ‘Scorpio action,’ when police rooted out the main amphetamine distribution plant on Costa del Sol, southern Spain in 2007. The men were found to have in their car a bag with 10,000 ecstasy pills. When the men’s homes were searched for drugs, it turned out there were some 60,000 more pills there.The Poles also frequented public houses, where they established connections with other drug traffickers. Their cars, stolen in other European countries, had forged license plates.

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Pancake the scouser leads violent Liverpudlian gang which has been carrying out extortion of local businessmen on the Costa del Sol

Violent British gang based in Mijas. The gang are called Pancake after their Liverpudlian leader, according to La Opinión de Málaga today. A violent British gang which has been carrying out extortion of local businessmen on the Costa del Sol has been linked to several shooting incidents.The group is known as ‘Pancake’, because it is allegedly led by the known British criminal referred to as ‘Pancake the scouser’, and is involved in drug trafficking and carrying out assassinations in Málaga province. Most of the members are originally from Liverpool and Manchester.La Opinión de Málaga reports that the group controlled four houses in Urbanisation Jacaranda in Mijas, and that there are at least five members known to the authorities.The shooting at Nikki Beach last year has been linked to the gang which is under investigation by the UDYCO, organized crime and drug unit of the police. Several witnesses at the scene identified ‘Pancake the Scouser’ as the shooter there last summer.The gang is also linked to the Puerto Banús shooting last summer and to the shooting of an Irishman at the Aloha Garden bar.

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Romanian burglary gang arrested

Spanish National Police have broken up what they describe as a military group of 25 people who dedicated their time to robbing from shops and homes across the country.
The arrests of the group, all Romanians, were made in Madrid, Valencia and on the Balearic Islands.Police say they had a network of spies who would first identify possible targets to be burgled, while another part of the group would set up a security cordon round the site when the theft was taking place. Police say they acted across the country and had frequency inhibitors to block alarms and ultrasound devices to deal with guard dogs.Investigations started in the Valencia region and the alleged head of the gang was detained as he was trying to board a plane from Madrid back to Romania. He was carrying 24,000 € cash at the time.

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Gary Richard Stephens, has been sentenced to nine years in prison by the Provincial Court in Murcia, found guilty by a jury of beating his business p

Gary Richard Stephens was found guilty of killing Jonathan Robert O'Neill by hitting him around the head with a hammer, after discovering he was having an affair with his wife.A British man, Gary Richard Stephens, has been sentenced to nine years in prison by the Provincial Court in Murcia, found guilty by a jury of beating his business partner to death with a hammer.It happened in November 2005 in the Playasol urbanisation in Mazarrón, which the two men were promoting.The magistrate, Álvaro Castaño gave his sentence, saying it was lower than normal as he had taken account of the fact that the man had acted in a fit of jealousy after he had just discovered that his business partner had started an affair with his wife, making the discovery by reading a text message on his partner’s mobile phone.Stephens pleaded guilty of killing his partner, Jonathan Robert O’Neill. After carrying out the killing he pretended to be his now dead partner, and sent several SMS messages from his phone saying he was going on a trip. He then buried the body in cement at the urbanisation the two men had been promoting.Stephens himself was finally arrested on December 6 2005 in Naples, after earlier lying low in the U.K.

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Marta del Castillo Casanueva Another young girl goes missing in Andulusia

Still no sign of the 17 year old girl who has gone missing from Sevilla.National Police have opened an investigation into the whereabouts of Marta del Castillo Casanueva, who was last heard from when she left home last Saturday afternoon to visit friends.Her uncle Javier told the press she left home about 5pm and one of her friends said the dropped her off at the door to her home at 9,30pm. However she never made it inside.
Her mobile phone is ‘switched off or out of coverage’.

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Eva Casanueva, the mother of the 17 year old Marta del Castillo, who vanished from Sevilla nine days ago, has spent most of that time in bed

Eva Casanueva, the mother of the 17 year old Marta del Castillo, who vanished from Sevilla nine days ago, has spent most of that time in bed just waiting for news. On Monday she made the effort to attend to the questions of the media. There are no firm clues to go on, although rumours that the boy who said he dropped Marta off at her home on the Saturday night is under suspicion. An expert dog has indicated that the clues may be in the Triana part of the city, where Marta spent Saturday afternoon with friends before she disappeared.Meanwhile her uncle, Javier Casanueva, who is acting as family spokesman, has complained to the press that neither the Prime Minister, nor the Minister for the Interior have called the family.

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Search is underway for two girls aged 14 and 12 who have gone missing from their homes in Valencia and Torrent.

Search is underway for two girls aged 14 and 12 who have gone missing from their homes in Valencia and Torrent. It’s not thought that the two know each other, but both went missing after failing to return from school. The 14 year old is missing since last Monday and the 12 year old who is Brazilian, has been missing since Friday.The mother of the 14 year old said she thinks her daughter has gone off with an Ecuadorian, who is now believed to be a member of the Latin King Junior gang. She denies claims that she kicked her daughter and her boyfriend out of the house.
The 12 year old vanished when heading home from the Veles e Vents Institute in Torrent on Friday. Classmates say she was in class, but has not been seen since.

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Six britons arrested for Costa del Sol timeshare scam

Six britons arrested for Costa del Sol timeshare scam The six, a manager and five telesales operators have not been named. National Police from Málaga have arrested six British people in Fuengirola for defrauding other Britons in the fraudulent resale of timeshare property in the province of Málaga.The manager and five telesales operators offered timeshares on the Costa del Sol for one or several weeks across many years, for large amounts of money. It seems the same timeshare rights were resold to different buyers several times, according to a statement from the main police station in Málaga.The case started after a complaint from a British person about a company based in Alhaurín el Grande.The company used several different names and closed down, only to reopen in Fuengirola.The six arrested will appear in court shortly.

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

Antonio Caiazzo, 50, of Camorra mafia's Vomero clan, and Francesco Simeoli, 40, were arrested Monday night as they left a restaurant in the suburb of Majadahonda, Italian and Spanish police said.Their capture follows a series of arrests highlighting the intense activity of the Italian mafia in Spain, which has become a big illegal drug market for the rest of Europe and a haven for money laundering.Caiazzo hid in Spain as "today it is the main international crossroads for the trafficking of hashish and cocaine," Vittorio Pisani, a Naples police official, told the ANSA news agency.Caiazzo had been on the run since March 2007 after being sentenced to 12 years in prison by a court in Naples, the home of the Camorra. He is suspected of heading a clan based in the Vomero and Arenella neighbourhoods of Naples.His suspected henchman, Simeoli, had been a fugitive since June 2007, when an arrest warrant was issued for him as well as Caiazzo and about 30 other suspected members of the Vomero clan.Spanish police said in a statement that the clan is known for "a brutal internal Camorra war that culminated in 1997 with the Arenella massacre, in which a woman died in the crossfire between two clans."
Caiazzo's clan escaped unscathed, becoming the "uncontested leader," the statement said.Their capture comes after a wave of arrests of suspected Camorra members in recent months in Spain, where the mafia has been accused of working with Colombian drug traffickers. Spain is the main entry point into Europe for cocaine and Moroccan hashish."The Camorra and Colombian cartels work together in Spain" where the Naples mafia manages part of the cocaine trafficking, an Italian police official told the El Pais daily earlier this month -- three days after the arrest in Barcelona of another accused Camorra leader, Salvatore Zazo.Zazo is suspected of importing Colombian cocaine bound for Naples thanks to a "friendship" forged in Spain between the Camorra, local gangs and Latin American cartels, said Gaetano Maruccia, a Naples military police official."Neapolitan organised crime has created logistical bases in several major Spanish cities and has key members (in the country) as well as an ample network of collaborators," Maruccia said.The Camorra clan is reported to have up to 5,000 members and is believed to be one of several mafia groups involved in drug trafficking, arms deals, prostitution and racketeering.
Spanish police investigations have repeatedly uncovered links between eastern European or Italian mafia and Colombian drug smuggling cartels.In May 2008, a suspected Italian mafia drug trafficker was arrested in Spain with his Colombian accomplice and 40,000 doses of cocaine on his person.Italian author Roberto Saviano, who wrote the best-selling mafia expose "Gomorrah," said in a 2006 interview that "Spain has been invaded by Camorra money."On Spain's Costa del Sol and Canary Islands, Italian mafia money built "several hotels and tourist compounds.""Spain is considered by many mafiosi as the best place to hide without interrupting their activities," Saviano said.

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

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

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

Richard Keogh fled Ireland just over a year ago after he was wounded in a gun attack has been shot dead in southern Spain. The organised crime unit of the Spanish police is investigating the murder of Richard Keogh (30), from Cabra in Dublin. Security sources in Spain say the killing is believed to be drugs related.
Keogh, a father of four children aged between two and nine years, was wounded several times after at least 10 shots were fired in a drive-by shooting in Benalmadena Costa near Marbella. He was walking along a pavement with this wife at about 11.35pm on Saturday when a car pulled up and at least one occupant opened fire. Keogh collapsed on the pavement outside the Torrequebrada Hotel. The dead man is originally from Carnlough Road, Cabra, but in recent years had settled with his family in the Belfry estate, Duleek, Co Meath. On November 2nd, 2007, Keogh was putting his bin out for collection when a gunman fired at least five shots at him as his wife and two-year-old son looked on. He was wounded in the shoulder and arm but managed to run back into the safety of his home. His attacker tried to run into the house but Keogh’s partner slammed the door shut as a number of bullets hit the house. Shortly after the murder attempt, Keogh put his five bedroom detached property up for sale and moved with his partner and children to southern Spain. Keogh has been a target of the Garda National Drug Unit for a number of years as part of Operation Rugby and Operation Banish. He was associated with a man from Cabra who was a member of an international gang caught with cocaine valued at €400 million off the coast of Spain a number of years ago. Keogh’s assets are currently being investigated by the Criminal Assets Bureau. Garda sources said they regarded Keogh a “significant player” in the drugs trade here. The deceased was one of a growing number of gangland figures involved in the motor trade in Dublin. He was a partner in a garage in the north inner city. Garda sources said that while he had addresses in Balbriggan and Duleek before moving to Spain, he remained closely associated with drug dealers from Cabra and from Dublin’s north inner city. He and was also associated with the Finglas-based gang once led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland.
Gardaí suspect that when Keogh moved to Spain he began sourcing cocaine and other drugs from international gangs there for export to his contacts in Ireland. They believe his murder is most likely linked to a drugs dispute with an international cartel rather than with any Irish criminals based in Benalmadena Costa. Southern Spain is popular with Irish gangs because it is the European distribution hub for cocaine smuggled from Colombia via West Africa. Keogh’s murder is the latest in a series of killings in which Irish drug dealers have been shot after relocating to continental Europe. Peter Mitchell (39), of Summerhill in Dublin, was wounded in a shooting in Marbella last August. He was a one-time associate of John Gilligan. Drug dealer Paddy Doyle, of Portland Place, in Dublin, was shot dead near Marbella last February. The former leaders of the notorious Dublin Westies gang, Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg, were shot dead in Alicante, southern Spain, in early 2004. John McKeon, from Finglas in Dublin, has been missing presumed dead in Spain for over three years. Cork drug dealer Michael “Danser” Ahern was found dead in the freezer of an apartment in Portugal in 2005.

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Richard Keogh murdered in Gangland shooting outside the casino in Benalmadena

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

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Las Palmas rapist,found hanged

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

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

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

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

Fernando Moreno ran a family construction business, founded some 40 years ago. He was last seen at 10am on Wednesday morning and family members reported him missing that same morning, reportedly fearing that he may have been kidnapped. They then received a phone call from a person with a Latin American accent who demanded two million € for the businessman, and throughout the day there were more calls in which the amount demanded was reduced. The final call at 1600 on Wednesday demanded 600,000 €. The phone then went silent until 2200 when the kidnappers said they had released the businessman ‘close to the Ojén reservoir’.
Police say they think he was victim of a so called ‘express kidnapping’ and were also investigating an abandoned white van with British number plates found in the area of the body, and thought to have been used by the kidnappers.76 year old Marbella businessman who died during an express kidnapping attempt last week, Fernando Moreno, did not meet his death through natural causes. His body was found, in a chair hands tied above his head, with feet and neck also tied and mouth taped up, and with his head covered up, on Thursday inside an abandoned building between Marbella and Ojen with no outward signs of violence. However the autopsy carried out on Friday indicates that he suffocated to death through swallowing a piece of the cloth which had been placed in his mouth. Sources indicate that the autopsy was a full one and lasted for seven hours, and that several samples taken could help to resolve the case.The investigators consider that he was probably still alive when his kidnappers left the scene after negotiating his release and the payment of a ransom with him and his family. Police say no money was paid, and they are interested in the statement from one of Fernando Moreno’s workers who saw an old white right-hand drive van, with British number plates in the area. The van has now been located in Marbella and forensic scientists have been combing it for prints and DNA.Government Sub-Delegate in Málaga, Hilario López Luna, has confirmed that the businessman was kidnapped. Reports say that the kidnappers were of Latin American origin. Initially in phone calls to the family they demanded two million €, a sum which later was reduced to 600,000 €. Reporting restrictions have now been imposed in the case.

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

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

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

Spanish police are seeking the owner of a £1.1m bronze elephant, possibly sculpted by Salvador Dalí, that was stolen with a major haul of work purportedly created by the mustachioed master of the so-called paranoid-critical method.The three-metre-high elephant was impounded with 81 works that had been on display at a hotel in the southern Costa del Sol region. It was not clear whether the pieces were stolen, genuine or fakes.The works, which included sculpture, bas reliefs, lithographs, textiles, furniture and cutlery had been transported to the hotel in Estepona from France and were due to be auctioned there. The asking price for the elephant sculpture, believed to be a work known as the Space Elephant, was €1.2m (£1.1m) .Police said they were investigating reports from around the world that up to a dozen pieces similar to those on display had been stolen. The robberies had been reported in the United States, France, Belgium and Spain. An unidentified Frenchman was arrested and charged with fraud and faking documents, they said.frenchman was arrested yesterday for trying to organize an exhibition of works by Dali in a hotel in Fuengirola, an coastal town between here and Marbella. Yes, a hotel in Fuengirola is a likely place for a serious art exhibit. So it's pefectly normal for the works to be thrown into a truck sent here from France. And of course you'd store over sixty Dali originals in one of the hotel's rooms with no special security. Right. And exactly who did this guy think was going to buy these valuable pieces of art? Dali is one of the most forge artists in the world. I guess the guy figured he'd find plenty of suckers here who wanted to launder some money. And probably a very reasonable supposition

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

Neil Davison, also known as Richard Neil Davison, was taken into custody almost five years ago when Spanish customs officers swooped as part of a large-scale operation with their Suffolk counterparts.The bid to smash the multi-million pound drugs racket netted 16 other suspects in Malaga, Nerja and Estepona, who were alleged to be involved in the trafficking operation.Around 70 Spanish officers carried out the raids aimed at preventing drugs being smuggled from north Africa to Spain.However, despite his arrest in March 2004 Davison, who ran a boat-building company in Lowestoft, has yet to stand trial.After being released pending further inquiries, Davison skipped bail during the intervening years. He was apprehended again last year after a warrant was put out for his arrest.Despite fleeing once before, Davison was granted bail and went on the run again. A year on he is still a fugitive.
Davison, formerly of Colville Road, Lowestoft, was originally arrested as he came out of his flat overlooking the beach at Estepona on the Costa del Sol.At the same time his home in Lowestoft was raided by Suffolk customs officers and separate amounts of cash totalling £1million were seized at the premises. Several boats at Davison's company were also seized and impounded.Davison had settled in the Costa Del Sol several years before. The flat he was in at the time of his arrest was believed to be one of at least 10 he had in eastern Spain.At first Davison was remanded in jail following his arrest and held in a prison near Malaga. However, he was subsequently released on bail, from which he absconded for the first time.
A spokeswoman for HM Customs and Revenue confirmed Davison had not returned to answer his bail on two separate occasions.She said: "Neil Davison is currently at large having been arrested on a European arrest warrant in February 2008. He was granted bail from which he has absconded."Over the years the nature of drug trafficking between Spain and Morocco, known as the 'hashish gateway' changed, leading to different types of high-speed boats being used to outrun the authorities.
Davison's boat-building firm produced powerful semi-rigid hull inflatable boats, known as RHIBS.In just over a year before his arrest around 100 such boats, worth an average of 60,000 Euros, are believed to have been seized in southern Spain.

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Arrested five Britons in the Costa Del Sol and Tenerife

Police have arrested five Britons in the Costa Del Sol and Tenerife, and confiscated assets believed to be worth as much as twelve million euros after accusing the entire group of being involved in the distribution of the drug 'speed'. The investigation started after 70 Kilos of speed was found in a truck in Oxford, that had been sent by the group from Belgium. Amongst the assets confiscated were: a duplex apartment in Marbella of over 300 square metres; nineteen other pieces of real estate; various bank accounts, and several Porsches, Hummers, Mercedes and Ferraris as well as two luxury yachts. What apparently drew the attention of the police was that one of the detainees, who is not even thirty, and apparently without any job at all, managed to acquire fifteen pieces of real estate over two years.

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Castellón confiscated over two kilos of cocaine

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39, both from Glasgow, were detained following police raids in November. Londoners Stephen Denis Brown, 42 and Brian Rawlings, 63, were also arrested in a joint operation with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. The men are expected to spend several months in prison before facing trial at the National Criminal Court in Madrid. The operation also resulted in the arrest of Gerard Mooney, from Dublin, in October 2008. It is alleged that a truck that he was driving to Scotland contained 70kg of speed when it was stopped by police near Oxford. The subsequent raids in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol, and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, resulted in the Britons being arrested. The money laundering charges relate to the seizure of property in Spain along with luxury goods worth nearly £11m. These included a Ferrari F430 Spyder, a 599 Fiorano, two Hummers, a Porsche Cayenne turbo, an Audi Q7, a Mercedes 63 AMG and two BMWs. A luxury yacht was also confiscated.

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Settling of scores between drug dealers

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

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

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

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

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

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Malaga University carried out 1300 ” victimisation Surveys ”

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

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Salvatore Zazo leader of the Mazzarella crime family captured in Barcelona

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

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

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

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

Spain's anticorruption prosecutor has opened an investigation into Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud, which may cost clients of Banco Santander, the nation's largest lender and the owner of US-based Sovereign Bancorp, $3.1 billion.The probe began last month, said an official at the prosecutor's office who asked not to be identified.Santander said on Dec. 14 that customers were at risk from investments with Madoff through its Optimal Investment Services hedge fund unit.Madoff's New York-based firm collapsed in December after he told his sons it was a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, according to a complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Santander has been very transparent about its exposure to Madoff," said Luis Benguerel, a trader at Interbrokers Espanola SA in Barcelona. "Santander is a victim in this case."The Wall Street Journal reported that Spanish prosecutors are investigating how Santander lost client money through Madoff's alleged fraud. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment. The official at the prosecutor's office said Santander wasn't a target of the probe.The anticorruption prosecutor will be examining the relationship between Santander, the investment fund Fairfield Greenwich Group, and the Madoff funds, the Journal reported. Fairfield had $7.5 billion with Madoff.About two-thirds of losses incurred by Santander clients were borne by investors in Latin America, the Journal said.

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

Trio of sporting stars who backed property developments in Spain with their own money and persuaded other British Fly to Let investors to do the same, are now counting the cost after the schemes were scrapped.The Daily Mail carried the story of how five-time Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave, 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst, and former England World Cup rugby star Tony Underwood were all endorsers and investors in the Royal Marbella Group, which later became the Royal Duja Group.
Some of Royal Duja's projects, such as Royal Cabanas in the Algarve, where other well known names, such as Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, invested, did go ahead. But the newspaper reported that another of the investment projects, Lince Sanctuario near Seville, will never be built. It was said that Redgrave invested in a £2million off-plan villa on this site and in return for a discount on the property had allowed his face and name to be used to promote the development on Royal Duja Group's billboards. He is now seking legal advice over the issue.In an interview with the Daily Mail, Redgrave said: “It's been a disaster, with the planning permission revoked. I have lost my investment. I've done promotional work for the developer and that was half the payment for the plot I had. I've lost a hell of a lot of time and image.“I've been talking to Geoff Hurst and he has similar problems. He has invested and he has friends who invested,” added Redgrave.The newspaper report explained how Hurst's and Underwood's off-plan flats at the former Royal Marbella development at Aldea Beach in Manilva on the Costa del Sol were issued building licences illegally by local mayor Pedro Tirado.Tirado has now been imprisoned for accepting bribes and Hurst is leading a group action to try to get back money he and other investors put into the development which are now unlikely to materialise.

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

Guardia Civil officers at Tenerife’s north airport arrested two people caught trying to smuggle 6.5kg of cocaine into the island. 

The couple, identified only by their initials, have been charged with crimes against the public health.

The man, 24-year-old D.A.M.B and his female companion, 35-year-old D.R.A., both Uruguayan nationals, arrived on a flight from mainland Spain.

After police became suspicious of the pair they were questioned, which raised suspicions even more and led to a body search, which revealed the drugs strapped to their bodies.

Police also discovered a large quantity of money and the pair have been detained without bail pending a court appearance.

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Guardia Civil officers arrested two Estonian men

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

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

Seized 4,400 kilos of hashish from a yacht flying the British flag off the coast of Torrevieja early last Friday morning and arrested the two crew members. Antonio L.R., aged 37, is a Spaniard with previous convictions for drug smuggling, and Daniel D.D., 28, is a North African who was carrying French identification and a British passport as well. Customs had spotted the craft during the afternoon on New Year's Day sailing 12 miles out to sea and considering it ‘suspicious', sent the Arao patrol boat to investigate. Provincial customs and excise department chief Arturo Marcos said that it had been sailing very slowly with its lights turned off. The yacht, a 12-metre-long vessel called the Masquerade, changed course and officers decided to carry out a search when it entered Spanish waters. Three officers boarded without resistance at 07.00 and immediately saw the contraband in several packages on the deck of the boat. They obtained a search warrant and took the crew and cargo to Alicante port, arriving at around 11.00. The drugs were unloaded on the quay, attracting the attention of several passersby, and the suspects were taken to the National Police headquarters. The investigation into the intended destination of the shipment, valued at 18 million euros, remains open.

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

Rolf Dieter-Glaetzner absconded prior to a scheduled Edinburgh High Court appearance and spent more than six years on the run before his re-arrest in Spain.47-year-old German national accused of sexually abusing two young girls in Scotland, skipped bail in the UK and has been arrested by police on the Costa del Sol, Spain, it was confirmed on Thursday.Detectives indicate that the fugitive will now face extradition proceedings. Charges against him in Scotland include a series of violent sexual assaults on two girls, aged six and seven at the time.Dieter-Glaetzner appeared initially at Stirling Sheriff Court in October of 2001, and was granted bail.He subsequently broke conditions of his bail, returning to his native Germany where he remained for about one year.When he returned to Scotland in July 2002, he was rearrested, and brought before the Edinburgh High Court.Once again, Dieter-Glaetzner was granted bail, pending a trial at Forfar High Court in Forfar in October of 2002. He left the country, however, for the second time, and remained at large until his capture in Spain was announced on Thursday of this week.
A Central Scotland Police spokeswoman confirmed reports that a suspect had been arrested by Costa del Sol police.

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

Colombian drug trafficker has been shot dead in his bed of a Madrid hospital. Leónidas Vargas Vargas received four shots from a pistol with a silencer after an individual entered his room in the 12 de Octubre Hospital at 8pm last night.
There were two people in room 543 and the assassin asked first which one was Vargas.
Police consider the shooting is almost certainly a settling of scores, with Vargas known as ‘El Viejo’ and to be linked to the Medellín drugs cartel. He was arrested in 2006 but was now granted release because of a lung problem. Police are now studying security tapes to see if the assassin has been caught on camera.Leonidas Vargas, a once powerful Colombian drug trafficker, has been shot dead in his hospital bed in the Spanish capital, Madrid. Police said that a gunman entered his room and fired four shots at Vargas, who was being treated for lung disease.
Vargas, 59, was the head of the Caqueta cartel which ran vast cocaine laboratories in Colombia in the 1980s. After serving a prison sentence in Colombia, he was arrested in Spain in 2006 and was on bail awaiting trial. The Spanish authorities stopped him up for carrying a fake Venezuelan passport, and he was later charged in connection with a 500kg (1,100lb) cocaine haul. His trial was delayed and he was admitted to the Doce de Octubre hospital for treatment in early January. Witnesses say two people entered Vargas' room on the fifth floor of the hospital. One man took out a pistol with a silencer and fired four shots at Vargas, who was asleep. His killing is believed to be part of a settling of accounts between rival drug-trafficking organisations, says the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia. Vargas assumed a low profile after being released in Colombia, but in the 1980s he was allied with the powerful Medellin drug cartel of Pablo Escobar. An idea of the scale of his wealth at the time was revealed after the Colombian state seized $29m worth of properties from him.

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

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

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Peaceful protest march in Almeria

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

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

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

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18 year old’s arrested in their van at Adra

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

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

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

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Large arms find in Majorca

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Leighton Richardson arrested in Tenerife after his girlfriend was found dying in a pool of blood at her apartment has been released

Leighton Richardson arrested in Tenerife after his girlfriend was found dying in a pool of blood at her apartment has been released from custody after being held since Christmas Eve.Before making his bail decision the judge studied police information which – despite earlier reports – said no baseball bat had been found at her flat.
But while investigations continue Leighton Richardson, born in Wrexham and who grew up in Mold, remains a suspect.He has been ordered to report daily to the court at Arona, on the holiday island’s south coast, where the investigating judge in charge of the case is based.Richardson has also had to surrender his passport to the court.
He was arrested in the early hours of Christmas Eve after Lisa McConway, 28, from Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland, was found by police at her flat in the brash resort of Playa de las Americas.She was in a critical condition and had severe bruising to much of her body.She was rushed to hospital but died at 1pm that day.Reports said police had gone to the flat after neighbours telephoned just after 3am to report a violent row was taking place.

The investigating judge decided to grant Richardson “provisional liberty” – the Spanish term for bail – after studying a written report by pathologists following an autopsy.

The experts were reported as concluding Miss McConway, who had a British passport, could have died either as the result of a beating or following a fall, it was reported yesterdayAlthough her injuries were consistent with an attack the autopsy revealed she suffered from a blood clotting condition which could cause extensive bruising as the result of a fall, court sources told local journalists.Before making his bail decision the judge had also studied a police report which despite earlier reports said that no baseball bat had been found at Miss McConway’s flat.Nor had any witnesses been found to back-up the claim reportedly made by the initial caller a serious row had taken place.
But two witnesses had said earlier Miss McConway had been “drinking a lot” and they had seen her “drunk”. The witnesses said she had fallen down opening a gash in her head.For his part

Richardson had emphatically denied throughout his time in police custody and later at a closed door hearing in front of the investigating judge he had beaten Miss McConway.

Following Miss McConway’s death Jose Antonio Batista, the Spanish Interior Ministry representative in Tenerife, described the scene which greeted officers at her apartment as a “Dantesque spectacle”.He was quoted as telling local reporters: “All the furniture was overturned and there was blood on the floor and the walls.”The official also said Miss McConway had telephoned Richardson, who lived elsewhere, at 3am last Wednesday to say she felt unwell. The boyfriend arrived shortly afterwards at her flat.Reports yesterday said the couple’s young son would be handed over to Richardson on his release.

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Family of Lisa McConway are due to arrive on the island early next week to take care of her young son and fly her body home

family of Lisa McConway, the 28-year-old woman bludgeoned to death in Playa de Las Américas on Christmas Eve, are due to arrive on the island early next week to take care of her young son and fly her body home.Lisa McConway died after being attacked with a baseball bat in her apartment in Palo Blanco in the early hours of the morning. Neighbours say they heard a massive row in the apartment before her body was found

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Fuengirola Mafia boss arrested

Guardia Civil officers, in collaboration with the Italian Arma de Carabinieri, have arrested a 44-year-old member of the mafia-like criminal organisation, the Camorra, in Fuengirola. The man is an important member of the Clan Mariano of the Naples Camorra, and has had an arrest warrant on him for 17 years.The police operation was launched thanks to information the Guardia Civil received from the Arma de Carabinieri. The intelligence revealed that an important Camorra hitman who had escaped from Italy could be living on the Costa del SolOfficers from the Guardia Civil’s Team Against Organised Crime (ECO) along with Carabinieri officers from Naples in Italy searched for the man in areas where they suspected he was. The officers knew that the suspect was living on the Costa del Sol and used public cyber-cafés to contact other members of the Camorra.The camorrist was finally arrested at the entrance of a cyber-café thanks to a picture provided by the Arma de Carabinieri.

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Captured Trainer gang which smuggles coke into Spain

The drugs were being smuggled from Argentina concealed inside specially adapted shoes that were worn by a couple in their late fifties who were arrested at Valencia's Manises airport on Christmas Day after stepping off a plane from Buenos Aires in possession of 1.6kg of uncut cocaine.

Five members of a gang that has been smuggling cocaine into Spain by hiding it inside training shoes, have been arrested. The couple's two sons and a third individual responsible have since also been detained. It seems that the gang has been operating for some time and also trafficked a variety of other recreational drugs for sale in the Balearic Islands, mainly Ibiza.

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Paul Hickey is currently serving 15 years at Fontcalent jail, one of Spain's toughest penitentiaries.

Hickey, is currently serving 15 years at Fontcalent jail, one of Spain's toughest penitentiaries.Sandra Conroy said she would block any attempt by Paul Hickey to move to an Irish prison for the rest of his sentence.He was sentenced in November when he admitted battering Celine (26) to death at their holiday home on the Costa Del Sol three years ago. He can apply to be transferred to an Irish prison, but this would have to be approved by both the Spanish and Irish authorities."I'm still in contact with my solicitor, it's still not over for me," Sandra said."I'll keep up the fight if there is any way they can even consider letting him come home. If it's the courts or the Dail, I'll tie myself to the railings if I have to to keep him in Spain."
Sandra remains sceptical about claims Hickey (31) has made about being stabbed repeatedly in jail.She said she was sickened by a recent press interview he gave complaining of conditions at the notorious prison."He said he'd been stabbed in prison, but I didn't see any marks on him when he was in court," Sandra said. "It was all about himself and how hard he was having it."Meanwhile, Sandra has said she is still haunted by Hickey's sneering attitude as he was sentenced.The family spent Christmas together and visited Celine's grave in Glasnevin.

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National Police and the Guardia Civil have reported that the charred body of a man has been found in a burned out vehicle

National Police and the Guardia Civil have reported that the charred body of a man has been found in a burned out vehicle in inland from Villajoyosa .The car and body were found on a piece of wasteland last Tuesday in an area known as Partida Ripalmes .The identity of the man remains unknown and the police have not released any further details .Both the National Police and the Guardia Civil have joined forces to try and solve the possible crime .It is possible that the death was an accident but it could also be murder .A post -mortem will be carried out this week .

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Guardia Civil are looking for two un-named British people in connection with the disappearance a year ago of the Irish youngster Amy Fitzpatrick

Diario Sur newspaper reports that the Guardia Civil are looking for two un-named British people in connection with the disappearance a year ago of the Irish youngster Amy Fitzpatrick from Mijas Costa. One of the people wanted for questioning is a man, another a woman, and both are said to be in the United Kingdom although it is reported that they don’t know each other. They are under investigation at the request of Amy’s family.Amy’s mother Audrey says in an interview with the paper that it has been the longest year of her life, and that it is impossible to stop thinking about Amy. She says she is living a nightmare but has not given up hope of being reunited with her daughter.

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Lisa McConway, who has family living in Dublin, was found unconscious at her home . Irish woman, resident on Tenerife

The 28 year woman, named as Lisa McConway, who has family living in Dublin, was found unconscious at her home near Playa de las Americas in Tenerife.She died this afternoon after allegedly being hit by her boyfriend with a baseball bat, which the aggressor then through out the window.British woman, resident on Tenerife, is the victim of the latest domestic violence tragedy in Spain.Her beaten body was found in Urbanisation Palo Blanco in Playa de las Américas in the south of Tenerife, after neighbours heard the fight and called 091, and reports indicate that she died from her injuries on the way to hospital. The alleged aggressor, also British, was arrested at the scene and police say there were signs of a fight in several rooms of the flat.The case is being instructed by Court Number 7 in Arona.Police have arrested the woman's boyfriend who has been named as Leighton Richardson.The 28-year-old, who has been named as Lisa M, was discovered in an apartment block in the Playa de las Americas resort.According to statements made by her boyfriend, the victim phoned him at around 3am GMT on Wednesday morning and asked him to go to her apartment because she was feeling ill.
After the boyfriend arrived at the flat in the Pala Blanco housing development, the couple are believed to have had a fight.Police were called when neighbours heard a violent row.It is thought that the woman, who had been beaten with a baseball bat, had suffered a cardiac arrest.She was taken to a local hospital where she died at around midday Christmas Day.A post-mortem examination has taken place but the results have not yet been released.Her boyfriend has been arrested after apparently giving conflicting statements to police, and for the marks on the woman's body.Further details of her identity have not yet been released as Foreign Office staff attempt to contact her family.Her father Jim McConway, speaking from the family home in Blackrock in Dublin last night, said they had received very little information about the death

Leighton Richardson

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Spanish police smashed an international drug ring that trafficked cocaine from Peru to Israel and via several other countries, including Spain.

Spanish police smashed an international drug ring that trafficked cocaine from Peru to Israel and via several other countries, including Spain.Port of Barcelona authorities, as part of a joint operation with Peruvian, Israeli, U.S. and Bahamas police, seized 674 kilograms of cocaine shipped from Peru on a vessel bound for Jordan’s Aqaba port. The drugs had been stuffed into an industrial paper shredder.
In early December, Caribbean, Peruvian and Spanish police intercepted cocaine shipments hidden in lead-plated heavy machinery designed to fool airport x-ray security scans.A month prior, Peru’s police drug enforcement unit, Dirandro, carried out four simultaneous raids in Lima’s districts of Miraflores, Ate, Chorrillos and San Isidro, seizing more than half a ton of cocaine. Five people were arrested, including four Peruvians and an Israeli national.Spain is Europe’s main entry point for cocaine from South America, although large quantities are now transported via West Africa. And, according to a UN Office on Drugs and crime report published in January, Spain has become the top consumer of cocaine in continental Europe.

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65-year-old father Robert Orchard had done a deal with drug-traffickers in his home town of Marbella.

65-year-old father Robert Orchard had done a deal with drug-traffickers in his home town of Marbella.He agreed to hide the drugs under the bed on which Cheyrl, of Denny, Stirlingshire, and her eight-year-old son had been sleeping.On Monday a jury at Canterbury Crown Court consisting of seven women and five men found her not guilty of drug importation.Her father pleaded guilty.Innocent Cheyrl was flown out to the Costa Del Crime by her father, but while she was sunbathing the gang was stashing the chocolate-coloured blocks into the camper-van.Robert Orchard cynically took the pair to EuroDisney knowing full well they were sleeping only inches above the consignment.Cheyrl told the court she knew nothing of her father’s plot to smuggle the drugs through Europe to Ireland.After the jury unanimously found her not guilty, she spoke of her loathing of the father who risked her freedom in a sordid drugs deal.She said: “I thought it was a routine Customs stop. I had no idea there were drugs on board.“I have only contempt for my father, who used us. It is
supposed to be the time of goodwill to all men, but I doubt if any goodwill I have will extend to him.“As far as I’m concerned I haven’t got a father and my son hasn’t got a grandfather.“I thought the authorities were going to take my boy away from me. I couldn’t think about Christmas, but now I’ll be able to celebrate it with my son.
“I don’t care about my dad – he’ll be spending his Christmas behind bars.”But it wasn’t all comfort and joy for Cheyrl as she was fined £200 for breaking her bail by smoking in a prohibited area outside the front door of the court on Friday.She apologised and told Judge Michael O’Sullivan she had been under a great deal of strain.The judge accepted her apology but told her the restriction was put in place to stop her accidently bumping into jurors.Robert Orchard is due to be sentenced next week.

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British man stabbed during shooting incident near Tarragona thought the shooting, which involved four people, was linked to drug trafficking

British person has been injured in a shooting incident in L’Ametlla de Mar in Tarragona today, in which a German man has died. The 33 year old German was shot in the thorax and abdomen and suffered a heart attack.Spanish police think the shooting which involved four people in total was a settling of scores related to drug trafficking. An Italian is seriously hurt after being shot in the neck. He made his own way to the local health centre from where he was taken by helicopter to the Joan XXIII hospital in Tarragona where he has had surgery.
The Briton was stabbed in the thorax and treated in a local ambulance. His involvement in the affair is still being investigated and as yet he has not been arrested.It happened at 4,30pm on Monday in a chalet in Calle Rovelló, in the Sant Jordi Alfama urbanisation in L’Ametlla.All four men involved in the shooting and stabbing were living locally and reports say some of them have a previous record for drug trafficking.

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Santander Europe’s second- biggest bank by market value, may drop after saying its hedge fund unit invested 2.33 billion euros with Bernard Madoff

Europe’s second- biggest bank by market value, may drop after saying its hedge fund unit invested 2.33 billion euros ($3.1 billion) of client funds with Bernard Madoff, who allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme that cost investors $50 billion.
Santander’s Optimal Investment Services unit placed money with Madoff through its Optimal Strategic U.S. Equity fund, the Spanish lender said in a statement yesterday. France’s BNP Paribas SA may lose 350 million euros and Swiss private bank Reichmuth & Co. could have $330 million of losses as Madoff’s scheme reaches victims across the Atlantic Ocean. “People are going to take it badly in the market,” said Alberto Espelosin, who helps manage the equivalent of $7.7 billion at Zaragoza, Spain-based Ibercaja Gestion. “It’s not Santander’s own money, and they’re not to blame, but of course it will be taken as something negative.” Santander, based in the Spanish city of the same name, lost 53 percent of its market value this year. Madoff, 70, who had advised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on how to regulate markets, was arrested Dec. 11 and charged with operating what he described as “one big lie.”

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arsonists fire-bombed the home of the family of a Spanish man, Rafael Hidalgo Castro, who has been in jail since December 1st accused of murder

Police are fearing a backlash of reprisals against the family, who were forced to abandon their home several days ago.
Nobody was injured last Saturday night when arsonists fire-bombed the home of the family of a Spanish man, Rafael Hidalgo Castro, who has been in jail since December 1st accused of the murder of a Gypsy man, 51-year-old José Reyes, on November 9th.
The victim's son is calling for calm and said that those responsible for the attack "are not doing us any favours in our struggle for justice for our father's murder. We are not looking for revenge. If we had, we would already have exacted it." The incident took place in Santiago, one of the poorest districts of Bujalance and home to both Spanish and Gypsy families. At the time of the murder, Castro had been on the run since February 2006, when he failed to return to jail after being granted an eight-hour pass to visit his sick mother, and since when police suspect him of committing around 25 other offences. Local mayor, Rafael Cañete, described the incident as "totally deplorable, adding that: "If we start down this violent path, nothing will get resolved. Rafi's family has not done anything and the Talion Law of an eye for an eye is not the solution."

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Santander Group admitted yesterday that it has €2.3 billion euros invested in the firm managed by Bernard Madoff, who was arrested last week

Pedro Solbes has described the impact of the Madoff investment fraud as "of very little concern for the Spanish market." Speaking to the press following the 'Spain in the IMF and the World Bank: a 50-year relationship' conference in Madrid, Mr Solbes said that, at the moment, the only figures available indicate that the total amount lost by Spanish finance companies may be as little as €38 million euros although he informed that the Spanish stock market watchdog, the CNMV, is undertaking a "specific analysis." According to the Economy minister, the three Spanish insurance companies affected by the scam have lost €2 million euros while nine pension funds have been affected to the tune of €36mn, equivalent to only around 0.04% of their total investments. The total value of the fraud worldwide is estimated at around €37.4 billion ($50 billion US dollars), and has been described as "the biggest financial scandal, possibly in the history of the markets".
Mr Solbes concluded by saying that the Madoff case is further proof that the "systems of financial supervision and control are failing in some countries."
Notwithstanding, the Santander Group admitted yesterday that it has €2.3 billion euros invested in the firm managed by Bernard Madoff, who was arrested last week and charged with fraud while the BBVA bank estimates its losses at around €30 million.

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