Spanish national police detained a police officer and 37 other people

Spanish national police detained a police officer and 37 other people having ties to a drug trafficking and illegal immigration network, authorities said Wednesday. The involved police sub-inspector and his wife used to sell drugs and launder money in discotheques owned by themselves, according to the General Directorate of the Police and Civil Guard. Nineteen ground staff members at Barajas airport and a worker of one low-cost airline were arrested on suspicion of transporting suitcases and packages full of drugs from Venezuela and Colombia. Nine undocumented immigrants were also arrested. All those arrested except for the police officer are of Colombian origin, authorities said. Information indicating possible illegal activities involving the police officer reached the authorities at the end of October 2007. Investigations were carried out confirming the existence of an organized group dedicated to drug trafficking, money laundering, falsification and clandestine immigration through a marriage of convenience

Spanish police and insurance investigators raid Costa Caravan Sites

Teams of officers, working with Spanish police and insurance investigators, travelled to Benidorm to search two large sites last week. Of the 120 caravans they inspected, 30 were found to have been stolen from the north of England, police said.
Arrangements are now being made to return the vehicles to England while inquiries continue. A spokesman for the stolen vehicle squad said: "The recovery of the holiday homes in Benidorm is part of an ongoing investigation into caravan thefts.
"We are continuing to make enquiries both here and in Spain to find out who is responsible for the thefts and bring them to justice. "The occupiers of the caravans which we have recovered in Spain are often innocent parties in all this and it is unfortunate for them that they have bought what has turned out to be a stolen caravan." Officers have urged potential buyers to conduct HPI checks before purchasing caravans or mobile homes and avoid cash transactions.
Police are set to return to Benidorm later in the year as part of the ongoing investigation.

Robert Dawes believed to have masterminded trafficking of huge quantities of drugs in several countries, including the UK and Spain, was arrested

A British national, wanted in Spain for trafficking in more than 200kg of cocaine and against whom an Interpol warrant has been issued, was arrested by the Dubai PoliceRobert Dawes, believed to have masterminded trafficking of huge quantities of drugs in several countries, including the UK and Spain, was arrested when he arrived at the Dubai International Airport.A police source told Khaleej Times, "We arrested Robert Dawes 10 days ago in coordination with the British and Spanish authorities. He is believed to be involved in trafficking of 200kg of cocaine and is wanted by Interpol and Spanish authorities."The source added since he was wanted by international authorities, Dawes had been blacklisted and was arrested when he flew into Dubai International Airport. He would soon be handed over to Spanish authorities after the completion of due legal procedures.
Dawes is living in Marbella in Spain and is believed to have business interests in Dubai. British mission in the emirate also confirmed his arrest.

Scott Macaree was arrested in front of his children as he collected them from their new Spanish school

In a dramatic swoop, Scott Macaree, 34, of Sunset Drive, Havering-atte-Bower, was arrested in front of his children as he collected them from their new Spanish school.
Drug dealer who fled the country after being caught running a drugs factory from his kitchen was jailed for 20 months, but could be free in six.
Ten months before he had been caught with £1,750-worth of the class-A drug, weighing scales, and lottery tickets to wrap the deals, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Acting on intelligence, police raided the home he then shared with his wife and children in Ilford, in March last year but found no one home.
Macaree quietly returned two days later to collect his things and make a dash for the sunshine with his family.But he was caught in January in Spain and brought back to England, where he admitted possessing 29.2g of cocaine, on March 9 last year, with intent to supply.On Friday, he was jailed for 20 months. He sighed with relief and grinned broadly as he was told he would serve half his sentence, less four months he has spent in custody on remand.

Russian man was arrested at the El Altet airport

Russian man was arrested at the El Altet airport in Alicante on Sunday after customs officers detected a strange bulge in the man’s trousers.On investigation they found 971 grams of cocaine had been taped to the man’s legs below the knees.The man, named with the intials A.Z. will appear in court locally shortly

21 arrests of Spaniards, Colombians, Peruvians and Romanians have been made on the Canaries, in Madrid and in Barcelona

A total of 21 arrests of Spaniards, Colombians, Peruvians and Romanians have been made on the Canaries, in Madrid and in Barcelona.joint operation between the National Police, Guardia Civil and the Agencia Tributaria, has completely broken up an International group of drug runners which had introduced large amounts of cocaine into Spain.568 kilos of cocaine, with a street value of more than 30 million €, has been recovered in Las Palmas with 850,000 € in cash, with the group believed to have been expert in laundering the money from their dealing. A series of luxury cars were impounded including Ferrari, Maserati, Lambourghini and Hummer.Investigators think the group were especially active in bringing the drug from Latin America in general, and Venezuela in particular, into Spain and Africa by sea and air.

Audrey Fitzpatrick and her partner Dave Mahon met with former BBC reporter Clarence Mitchell at the Westbury Hotel

Audrey Fitzpatrick (40) and her partner Dave Mahon met with former BBC reporter Clarence Mitchell at the Westbury Hotel to seek new ways of raising awareness about the search for Amy.Clarence Mitchell works full-time as spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann whose little daughter Madeleine was abducted from their holiday apartment in Spain.Dubliner Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared in Spain on the night of January 1 last while walking to her home in Calahonda from a friend's house on the Costa del Sol.
"We had a very encouraging meeting with Clarence. He flew into Dublin just to meet us and flew back to England a few hours later," Audrey told the Herald today.
"When Clarence appeared on the Late Late Show a while ago, a lot of people were telling him about Amy so he left his number for us to contact him," said Audrey.
"He offered to come over to meet us. It was very good meeting him. He has offered us real help in getting Amy into the British media," she said."He was confident he will be able to get Amy's story on the BBC and on Sky and on GMTV too," she said.
"He is doing this just because he wants to help find Amy. We're very grateful to him. We have been trying for a long time to get the British media interested in the search for Amy," she added.Audrey and her family have been anxious to alert the 200,000 British people living on the Costa del Sol about Amy's disappearance. The British ex-pats mainly use British television channels and British newspapers.
Audrey and her partner are in Dublin for a few days before they return to their home in Spain.

Francis Smith of Alhaurin, Malaga, on Spain's Costa del Sol not guilty verdict

Francis Smith had denied conspiring with van driver Roy Selby and others to distribute the 1.2 tonnes of cannabis in February 2006 near Rugby.Selby, now 43, from Stockton, was jailed for two-and-a-half years in August that year after he admitted possessing the cannabis with intent to supply it.It was alleged that evidence was found linking Smith (56) who lives in Alhaurin, Malaga, on Spain's Costa del Sol, to the packages of cannabis seized from Selby's van.
His case had been adjourned for trial after he entered his not guilty plea at a hearing at Warwick Crown Court in May.On that occasion prosecutor Adrian Keeling said: "This case relates to the stopping of a vehicle back in 2006 when 1.2 tonnes of cannabis worth £2.6 million was found."He said it was alleged that wrappings around the cannabis revealed Smith's fingerprints, but a report had to be prepared on exactly where the prints were, and on which layer of wrapping – which he commented 'could help one side or the other' in the trial.But at a resumed hearing Mr Keeling told the court that the prosecution was offering no evidence against Smith.He explained that when Selby's van was stopped for a routine check and shocked police officers discovered the consignment of cannabis in the back, Smith was living outside the jurisdiction of the courts.He was arrested earlier this year when he returned to the UK to attend Cheltenham races."The evidence against him rested in no small part on three of his fingerprints on the packaging which wrapped the cannabis in the back of the van."The packaging was to be further examined to establish on what part of the packaging the fingerprints fell, and the alignment of them on the packaging."But when that was put in train the unfortunate discovery was made that all the exhibits had been destroyed."When the case against Selby was completed, two entries were made on the police system – one that the matter was still outstanding against another potential defendant (Smith) and another saying it was a closed case."Of those, it is unfortunate but perhaps inevitable that the one saying the exhibits could be destroyed was the one which was followed; the cannabis, the wrapping, everything has been destroyed."So we have come to the reluctant view that there could not be a fair trial of this defendant. The only course open is to offer no evidence against this man."
So Judge Trevor Faber formally entered a not guilty verdict on Smith, who had been in custody since his arrest.

100 criminal Scots gangs buying up foreign property and use retired "advisers" to try to hide their assets on the Costas

Scotish detectives believes there may be between 50 and 100 criminal gangs this remains an estimate until the final figures are compiled.One area of concern is the attempts by organised criminals to buy up foreign property and use retired "advisers" to try to hide their assets."We know for a fact that there are a number of people using consultants abroad," he said. "Dubai is a growing area and we see a lot of traffic between Dubai and Scotland from the individuals we are interested in. There is a lot of money being pumped into Dubai and an incredible amount of property development. That is making it attractive to organised crime.
"Historically, the links were with Holland, Belgium and the Costas in Spain and we retain an active interest in these areas."There is increasing moves from organised criminals to buy assets all over the world because of some misguided view that buying assets in other countries gives them some immunity from the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) but that is not the case."The director-general said he also wants to introduce a more visible means of showing the public what happens to the assets of those involved in organised crime."I would like us to be more public in terms of the seizure of assets," he said. "I would be delighted to put a big sticker across the front of the car or house seized saying this was seized under Poca.
"If you're living in the community you just want someone to give you some relief and we want to give them the comfort of seeing whose assets have been seized.
"It helps people to get the message. There is a perception of organised crime as something with mystique that is somehow removed from the real life like the Sopranos but that is not the case."There is no disconnection between drug deaths and organised crime. The organised criminals brought those drugs into the country in the first place. That is not glamorous."

Marbella plastic surgeon operating with no qualifications as a doctor.

The Malaga College of Doctors has asked the Prosecutors Office to investigate the case of a man who is working as a plastic surgeon in Marbella despite having no qualifications as a doctor.
They say he has a ‘high volume’ of clients, comes from another European country, and somehow managed to get a qualification recognised before a notary here.
President of the Málaga college, Juan José Sánchez Luque, said that he did not want to give any more personal details of the man concerned or how long he had been in practice, as investigations were continuing.
It seems the case came to light some three months ago on information provided by a patient.

Marbella theft of items from several vehicles in the town arrest

A 20 year old local man, named with the initials, M.O.C.W. has been arrested in Marbella in connection with the theft of items from several vehicles in the town.
The thefts generally took place in car parks and the man used an electronic device which was capable of catching the frequencies used by remote opening keys. The police noted a spate of thefts at the start of the year, all carried out without any damage to the cars, and finally managed to catch the thief in the act

British man has been arrested after hitting five pedestrians

British man has been arrested after hitting five pedestrians with his car and then driving off.La Opinion de Málaga reports that the man was finally arrested on Sunday after allegedly hitting two women, a two year old baby boy and two babies aged five and thirteen months, as they were all crossing a zebra crossing at the junction of Avenida de los Reales and Avenida Andalucía. It happened at 1030am on Sunday morning with the driver accused of not respecting a red light.One of the two babies was trapped in its pram by the impact, and none of the adults hit are reported to be seriously hurt, but the five month old baby and two year old boy continue in the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella with diverse injuries. The two adults and the other baby were allowed home on Sunday.After the accident several witnesses made off in pursuit of the driver who was finally detained.A British man has been arrested in connection with a road traffic accident in Estepona that occurred during the early hours of yesterday morning, and which left five people injured, including two babies. Eye-witnesses described how, after jumping a red light on the Avenida de Los Reales, the driver ploughed into two women, a two year old boy and two babies (aged 13 and 5 months). The two women and the elder baby were released yesterday though the younger baby and the two year old boy, who suffered a variety of cuts and bruises, are still being kept under observation at the Costa del Sol Hospital in Málaga. The British man was arrested when he called in to the police station to recover the vehicle - which was found abandoned near the accident scene and impounded - and after he eventually owned up to having been behind the wheel.
The accused man, named only with the initials D.A.J. will appear in court shortly.

Gennadios Petrov, considered by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor as the head of one of the most dangerous Russian mafias in the world arrested

Italian man with alleged links to the Calabrian Mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta, was arrested in Spain on Thursday carrying four kilogrammes of cocaine worth an estimated 600,000 euros. Citing police sources, Spanish media reports said the man, identified only as Giuseppe F. was arrested by police in the city of Collado-Villalba, northwest of the capital, Madrid.During the arrest, authorities seized two cars and 35,000 euros in cash, hidden inside one of the vehicles.Police said the cocaine was being transported to Italy and it could have been broken down for 40,000 individual “fixes”.Spanish police said the man belonged to a family from the southern Italian region of Calabria, with direct links to ‘Ndrangheta.His partner, Gloria E.C.A. , a 47-year-old Colombian woman allegedly served as an intermediary and was in charge of making contacts in Colombia to bring the drugs to Spain.Both were caught with the cocaine, hidden in a plastic bag inside a car they were driving.
Giuseppe F. reportedly transported the drugs to Italy, using different vehicles with hidden compartments to hide the cocaine packages.
Italy’s four main criminal organisations are the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra in Naples and the surrounding Campania region, the ‘Ndrangheta in the southern region of Calabria, and the Sacra Corona Unita in the southern Puglia region.

Arrested the alleged boss of the mafia operation, 'Petrov', who was arrested at a luxury mansion in Calviá on Mallorca.

Twenty Russian citizens arrested in Spain today are accused of leading the Tambovskaya-Malyshevskaya Russian mafia gang, and face charges ranging from ordering assassinations, and drugs, arms and influence trafficking.
The arrests were made at a number of addresses in Mallorca, Málaga, Alicante and Madrid as part of a nationwide operation ordered by High Court investigating judge, Baltasar Garzón, involving around 400 National Police and Guardia Civil officers.
Among the detained is the alleged boss of the mafia operation, 'Petrov', who was arrested at a luxury mansion in Calviá on Mallorca.
He and the rest of the gang are accused of using Spain to launder millions of euros annually obtained from criminal activities elsewhere before chanelling it to secret bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland. Police forces from Germany, Switzerland and the USA have been collaborating in the investigation that led to today's arrests, which started back in 2006.

14 people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil from Córdoba in a new national operation against child pornography in Spain

El Mundo reports that the police operation remains open and that at least 39 searches have been carried out across 21 provinces of Spain. Arrests and searches have been seen in Alicante, Barcelona, Cádiz, Girona, Guipúzcoa, Murcia, Vizcaya, Sevilla, Granada, Huesca, Las Palmas, Logroño, Madrid, Málaga, Pontevedra, Tenerife, Valencia Valladolid and Zaragoza.
14 people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil from Córdoba in a new national operation against child pornography in Spain. A computer teacher and a television cameraman are among those arrested, and the Guardia Civil say that on the computers seized from the 14 people arrested and 20 more thought to be implicated in the case, more than a million images have been recovered.The operation started last February when a person from Baena ran across paedophile videos featuring a four year old when using a file-sharing program.

18,000 € bail for death crash driver

Provincial Court in Málaga has granted 18,000 € bail to the driver, Jesús G.R., of the four wheel drive vehicle which was in collision with a coach on the A7 motorway in Benalmádena in April which saw the death of nine Finnish tourists.
The court considered that the time the man has already served in prison on remand, and the amount of the bail demanded would reduce any risk of flight.He faces charges of dangerous driving, driving under the effects of alcohol, nine counts of serious negligence leading to death, and 41 counts of serious negligence leading to injury.

Wendysnana QV arrested at Barajas airport

26 year old Panamanian woman was arrested at Barajas airport after customs officers discovered 4,900g cocaine concealed inside three rum bottles. The woman, who has been identified as Wendysnana QV, arrived on a flight from Panama. Earlier this week, a 21 year old Dutch man, was arrested after he was found to be concealing nearly a kilo of cocaine hidden in his digestive tract. The suspect, who arrived on a flight from Santo Domingo, was taken to hospital to have the drugs removed.

57 year old British man has been arrested accused of sexually abusing his 14 year old daughter.

57 year old British man has been arrested accused of sexually abusing his 14 year old daughter. The suspect was detained at 4am yesterday morning at an address on the Los Altos residential estate in Orihuela Costa (Alicante) shortly after a complaint made by the girl's mother.

Monzer al-Kassar, a long-time Spanish resident known as the "Prince of Marbella" for his extravagant lifestyle, extradited

The United States accuses Monzer al-Kassar, 62, a long-time Spanish resident known as the "Prince of Marbella" for his extravagant lifestyle, of planning to sell arms to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to protect a cocaine-trafficking business and to attack U.S. interests.Kassar appeared in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiring to kill American nationals and officers, conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles and providing support to a terrorist organization.

Spanish government extradited a suspected Syrian arms dealer to the United States on Friday to answer charges of planning to supply weapons to Colombian rebels.
The Spanish government agreed to hand over Kassar after it received assurances from U.S. authorities he would face neither the death penalty nor a life sentence with no chance of parole.The U.S. Embassy in Madrid said Kassar has been selling weapons since the 1970s to the Palestinian Liberation Front and clients in Nicaragua, Bosnia, Croatia, Iran, Iraq and Somalia.A year ago, U.S. officials announced that Kassar had been arrested at Madrid airport in Spain and unsealed his indictment. It said he knew the FARC kidnapped U.S. citizens to dissuade American efforts to disrupt the cocaine trade.The U.S. government has designated the FARC as a foreign terrorist organization. The rebels have been fighting for socialist revolution since 1964 and have at times run large swathes of Colombia.At the time of his arrest, prosecutors said Kassar had met with two confidential sources working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration at his home in Marbella and discussed the sale of weapons, including assault and sniper rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers, to the FARC.Prosecutors say Kassar told the sources the weapons would cost between 6 million and 8 million euros ($8 million to $10.6 million) and offered to send 1,000 men to fight with the FARC against U.S. military officers.Kassar later met again with the sources at his home and agreed to provide prices for "surface-to-air missile systems for the FARC to use to attack United States helicopters in Colombia," prosecutors said.Two other men charged in the same case, Tareq Mousa al Ghazi, 61, of Lebanon and Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy, 59, of Marbella, Spain, pleaded innocent last October to terrorism charges in the same case.They were arrested in Bucharest, Romania and are in U.S. custody awaiting a trial due to begin Aug. 4.

Spanish police launched a nationwide operation Friday against a Russian mafia gang Tambovskaya-Malyshevkaya

Spanish police launched a nationwide operation Friday against a Russian mafia gang and detained 20 suspects, according to police sources.The "Operation Troika," ordered by Judge Baltasar Garzon, took place on Baleares Islands, Andalucia, Valencian Community and Madrid.The police found more than 500 bank accounts and hundreds of bogus companies which are supposedly used by mafia members to launder money in countries such as Switzerland and Panama.The detainees are accused of murdering, weapon and drug trafficking, extortion and other crimes, police said.
The gang, which is called Tambovskaya-Malyshevkaya, is considered one of the major Russian mafia groups.

British man who intended to fly from Málaga to London with a kilo of cocaine in his hand luggage to prison for nine years and fined him 100,000 €.

The Málaga Provincial Court has sent a British man who intended to fly from Málaga to London with a kilo of cocaine in his hand luggage to prison for nine years and fined him 100,000 €.
The drug was discovered in Málaga airport and the man then tried to flee in a taxi but was captured by the police.The man is named with the initials S.D.J. and was arrested on August 12 last year.The cocaine was found to have more than 85% purity with a market value of more than 61,000 €.

Gangs of conmen are swindling holidaymakers in Spain and the Canaries out of billions of pounds every year

Gangs of conmen are swindling holidaymakers in Spain and the Canaries out of billions of pounds every year.The Office of Fair Trading says 400,000 Brits lose an average of £3,000 each to "holiday club" scams that promise endless sunshine breaks at too-good-to-be-true rates. touts all use the same techniques to snare their victims.
You're stopped in the street and offered a scratchcard. Surprise, surprise - you're a winner.To collect your prize - often a "free" holiday - you have to attend a presentation at a local hotel. You're then plied with cheap drink under a barrage of high-pressure sales.The bait is membership of a club that provides bargain holidays, flights and accommodation anywhere you want for 10 years - and you are showered with fabulous examples at knockdown prices. Typically the conmen initially ask for a membership fee of £10,000 but let you beat that down to £7,000, £5,000 or even a "bargain" £3,000 - if you hand over a deposit right away.
Once you get home you are given access to book holidays through a website - the trouble is they're rarely the ones you want and the prices are no better than anywhere else.The Office of Fair Trading has teamed up with regulators in Spain and Europe to put the racketeers out of business.
But the best way to beat them is make sure you're never tempted to join. When you're on holiday it's natural to dream of the time off you'd like to enjoy in the future.
But it's the very last time or place you should even consider making any sort of investment.So if you are interested tell them to send their literature to your home.
You're then in a better position to check who they are and take independent advice before committing yourself to anything.
If you want to invest in holidays for the future, timeshare is a better bet.
Plenty of reputable British firms offer it and you have the benefits of tight international regulation and our own laws to protect you.

Gary Dunne died in the Costa Del Sol after an attack by a machete-wielding Spaniard

Victor Posse Navas, 23, will plead guilty and be sentenced on September 15 in Malaga High Court.Builder Gary Dunne, 22, died in the Costa Del Sol after an attack by a machete-wielding Spaniard in March 2006.
Under Spanish law the victim’s family can have a say in the sentencing of the defendant.The Dunne family, from West Derby, have been asked if they would accept a jail term of six years for Navas.But this has been rejected by his parents who are opting for a judge decision that could deliver a life sentence with a maximum of 15 years. Mr Dunne’s parents Stephen and Lesley Dunne and his fiancee Ashley Buchanan, will travel to Spain for the court date and see Navas for the first time."No matter what happens, I’ll have that image of him in my mind for the rest of my life. It’s horrible but I’ve got no choice."We’ve been told to go for the judge option as a jury may have sympathy for him as he’s a local lad."We want to have Gary’s two-year-old Kieran in court with us so Navas can see how he’s left a baby without his dad."
The family have been informed that Navas will plead guilty to the killing on mitigating circumstances, based on his intoxication with drugs.
Since Gary was killed, his parents have faced repeated frustration dealing with the Spanish legal system.The couple have still not been able to bring him home and bury him in Allerton cemetery.His body remains in a concrete box in the Costa Del Sol resort of Benalmadena.

Mimoun Hantriz, Jamal Rhilane and Antonio Cortés sent to prison for a total of 35 years

Three men have been sent to prison for a total of 35 years for the kidnapping of 12 year old child, Iván, from Torre Pacheco, who was held by them for two days in June 2006. The two Moroccans and a Spaniard, named as Mimoun Hantriz, Jamal Rhilane and Antonio Cortés, were also ordered by the Provincial Court in Murcia to return the 50,000 € ransom money they collected from the child’s father, a local constructor in Torre Pacheco.Another six people accused in the case were found not guilty by the chamber presided by Judge, José Manuel Nicolás.The total of 35 years for the three found guilty is less than demanded by the prosecutor in the case, as the judge considered that the child had not suffered any abuse when with the kdinappers.

Spain's soccer league has been awarded a cemetery in the jet-set southern city of Marbella in lieu of unpaid debts in a lawsuit

Spain's soccer league has been awarded a cemetery in the jet-set southern city of Marbella in lieu of unpaid debts in a lawsuit involving late Marbella mayor and soccer club owner Jesus Gil, a city official said Tuesday.
Town hall spokesman Felix Romero said a Madrid court last
week ordered Marbella to hand over the rights to one of its cemeteries to cover a debt of ¤550,000 (US$855,000) pending from the year 2000 when Gil was mayor.
The debt stemmed from an accord in which Gil agreed to pay the league ¤2 million (US$3 million) to have Marbella's city name on jerseys worn by first-division soccer side Atletico de Madrid, which he then owned. To manage the deal, Gil set up a company whose only asset was the cemetery, Romero said.
While mayor of Marbella in 1991-2002, Gil was embroiled in dozens of suits for alleged fraud and corruption. He was removed from the post in 2002 following allegations of corruption concerning the so-called «jersey case.
Romero described the ruling as «a barbarity» and said the town hall would appeal.
«The cemetery was built in 1989 and there are hundreds of people buried there,» he told The Associated Press.

The Spanish Soccer League refused to comment on the case.
Gil died in 2004 and was buried in Madrid.

Fifteen Russian sailors arrested in southwest Spain

Fifteen Russian sailors arrested in southwest Spain in a narcotics sting operation last month have been charged with smuggling and crimes threatening the health of Spanish citizens, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.The sailors were detained on May 14 near the city of Huelva on southwest Spain's Atlantic coast in a large-scale police operation, after around four metric tons of marijuana was seized from their two vessels, both of which belonged to a Russian company. "The sailors were detained by police when they were traveling in a private minibus to a foreign vessel, which docked outside the port where the drugs were seized," Andrei Nesterenko said.Representatives of the Russian Embassy in Madrid said the suspects are being held in 'normal' conditions, and that no procedural violations in their arrest have been observed. The Russian Foreign Ministry is maintaining close contact with the captains of the crew and the Spanish authorities, Nesterenko said.

British woman was found naked and with three stab wounds

21 year old British woman was found naked and with three stab wounds on May 30th in Magalluf on Mallorca, and now police have distributed a photo-fit picture of the man they believe first raped and then stabbed his victim. The Guardia Civil have made an appeal for help from the public in the case and say that the suspect’s image was put together thanks to help from the British victim who lives in Magalluf.

National Police have broken up a group of hashish traffickers who were bringing the drug into a beach in Níjar, Almeria

National Police have broken up a group of hashish traffickers who were bringing the drug into a beach in Níjar, Almeria over the weekend. Police have made nine arrests, most of the Moroccans and recovered a ton of the drug.The Government Sub-Delegate in Almería said those arrested had links to other drug traffickers in Almeria and Barcelona and operated right the way along the levante coastline.Police started the operation some days ago, after hearing about the group waiting for a new arrival of drugs. In the event 31 bales of the drug were recovered and two of the arrests were made in Lorca, Murcía in connection with the group.

El Nenes lawyers claim that the Moroccan arrest warrant issued via Interpol contained "errors,"

Mohammed Taieb Ahmed notorious Moroccan drug trafficker is claiming Spanish nationality in a bid to avoid extradition to Morocco.Lawyers representing Mohammed Taieb Ahmed, also known as El Nene, are demanding that he be released immediately from prison in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta where he was arrested last week, five months after bribing guards in order to escape from a high-security prison in Kenitra, Morocco.El Nene, believed to be one of the biggest hashish smugglers in the world with an estimated fortune of EUR 30 million, possesses both Spanish and Moroccan identity documents, Spanish police have said. His lawyers claim that the Moroccan arrest warrant issued via Interpol contained "errors," and that extraditing him to Morocco because of it would set a "dangerous precedent".

Amy Fitzpatrick posters for her are being torn down as soon as they are put up, as people are worried about the effect the case may have on tourism.

The parents of Amy Fitzpatrick, the Irish sixteen year old who vanished on New Year’s Day from Mijas Costa in Málaga, are travelling to Ireland again for a new media campaign designed to draw attention to the case ahead of the arrival of thousands of Irish tourists on the coast for the summer.Meanwhile the ex BBC journalist Clarence Mitchell, who is the media spokesman in the case of missing Madeleine McCann is now also to help the Fitzpatrick family. Audrey Fitzpatrick and her partner Dave Majon have spoken to Mitchell who is reported to be willing to give his advice for free. La Opinión de Málaga newspaper reports that he has already criticised some residents of the Riviera del Sol urbanisation in Mijas, where Amy vanished, after posters for her are being torn down as soon as they are put up, as people are worried about the effect the case may have on tourism.

Kenneth James Mallord has been sent to a Spanish jail for two and a half years

Kenneth James Mallord has been sent to a Spanish jail for two and a half years for throwing a man he found sleeping rough from a 30ft wall.A court at Motril on the Costa del Sol heard that Kenneth James Mallord, 28, from Abergavenny, and Irishman Frank Mallone, 26, found the man, who has not been named, asleep on a park bench in the town centre early on February 8.After attacking him and stealing 30 (£24) and a Walkman they threw him from the top of a 30ft wall, resulting in the victim spending 10 days in hospital. The two men admitted the allegations. They were also ordered to pay 680 (£544) in compensation.

Tim O’Toole was arrested in Marbella as the gang prepared to transfer the shipment, originally from Venezuela, to speed boats off the coast of Spain

Timothy O’Toole was jailed for 15 years for trying to ship four tons of cocaine worth £225million. He was at the centre of Europe’s biggest drug trafficking organisation, operating in Britain and Spain. But undercover customs infiltrated the network so deeply they crewed the boat that made the massive drugs pickup. O’Toole was arrested in Marbella as the gang prepared to transfer the shipment, originally from Venezuela, to speed boats off the coast of Spain. The drugs were destined for all parts of Europe, with millions of pounds worth heading for Britain’s streets.
O’Toole – known as the Invisible Man – masterminded the huge transport operation.
Last night a British customs source said: “O’Toole was a major player as the sentence indicates. “This was Europe’s biggest cocaine smuggling network and it was the first of what were intended to be a series of large-scale shipments.
“Had this not been stopped, tons of the stuff could have ended up in Britain.”
Middle-aged O’Toole, from Ireland, had a luxury villa and fast cars in Marbella. He also spent time in London. He was arrested three years ago after a year-long inquiry codenamed Operation Tulle. It involved British Customs, the Met Police and cops in Spain and Portugal. O’Toole’s assets were seized when he appeared in court in Madrid. The gang’s Spanish godfather Daniel Baula Carballo was fined £290million and jailed for 17½ years. Third ringleader Gonzalo Ferreiro was jailed for 13½ years and fined £144million.

Russian sailors arrested near the city of Huelva

Fifteen Russian sailors have been arrested in the southwest of Spain on suspicion of being involved in drug trafficking, a Spanish Civil Guard official said on Friday.
"The Russian sailors were arrested near the city of Huelva two weeks ago during a large-scale police operation, along with 29 individuals suspected of drug trafficking," the official said, adding that other foreign nationals had also been arrested. The Civil Guard said four tons of marijuana smuggled into Spain in two vessels had been seized during the operation. "The extent of the Russians' involvement in the case will be established during the investigation," he said.
Another police officer said the Russian sailors were believed to have been hired by drug dealers to unload the vessels, for which they could face long prison terms.
Russia's embassy in Madrid said crew members from the fishing ship Yuozas Aleksonis, which belongs to the Russian Arkhangelsk trawler fleet, were among those arrested.
A fleet official said earlier on Friday the crew could have been set up to discredit the company involved in a long-running litigation over the ownership of several trawlers, including the Yuozas Aleksonis, now anchored in Spain. "In any event we will seek our sailors' return home," said Nina Zelenina, chief spokesperson for the fleet based in northern Russia. The Arkhangelsk fleet dispatched 60 sailors to Spain after a Spanish court upheld in December 2007 Russia's suit against a Mauritanian national who appropriated the vessels after leasing them in 2004. The sailors were supposed to carry out maintenance work on the fishing vessels to prepare them to be towed to a neighboring country for repairs. But the Mauritanian appealed the ruling, and the trawlers ended up stuck in Spain pending further court hearings.

Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo employee kidnapped

Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo employee belonging to one of the Orihuela costa offices, the one located at Cabo Roig, was kept kidnapped by some criminals for more than ten hours. The criminals accosted her as she was on her way to work, and she was taken into a van to San Javier surrounding area where she was hit and covered with a gun in order to get the code of the strongbox. The bank robbers forced her to call her boss to justify her absence from work by saying she was not feeling fine.
The employee was kept kidnapped from seven in the morning until six in the evening when, once free, she went to Los Arcos Hospital in San Javier where she was looked after from minor wounds and anxiety symptoms. Whilst the CAM employee was kept, other members of the gang went to the CAM branch office located at the shopping centre “Playa Marina 2” in Cabo Roig, and though they could not tape the key code to access to the strongbox due to having a time opening security system, they run away with a loot of around 15.000 to 20.000 euros from the cash dispenser.

Italian man with alleged links to the Calabrian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, was arrested in Spain

An Italian man with alleged links to the Calabrian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, was arrested in Spain on Thursday carrying four kilogrammes of cocaine worth an estimated 600,000 euros.Citing police sources, Spanish media reports said the man, identified only as Giuseppe F. was arrested by police in the city of Collado-Villalba, northwest of the capital, Madrid.During the arrest, authorities seized two cars and 35,000 euros in cash, hidden inside one of the vehicles.Police said the cocaine was being transported to Italy and it could have been broken down for 40,000 individual "fixes".Spanish police said the man belonged to a family from the southern Italian region of Calabria, with direct links to 'Ndrangheta.His partner, Gloria E.C.A. , a 47-year-old Colombian woman allegedly served as an intermediary and was in charge of making contacts in Colombia to bring the drugs to Spain
Both were caught with the cocaine, hidden in a plastic bag inside a car they were driving.Collado-Villalba, 29 May (AKI) - An Italian man with alleged links to the Calabrian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, was arrested in Spain on Thursday carrying four kilogrammes of cocaine worth an estimated 600,000 euros.Citing police sources, Spanish media reports said the man, identified only as Giuseppe F. was arrested by police in the city of Collado-Villalba, northwest of the capital, Madrid.
During the arrest, authorities seized two cars and 35,000 euros in cash, hidden inside one of the vehicles.
Police said the cocaine was being transported to Italy and it could have been broken down for 40,000 individual "fixes".
Spanish police said the man belonged to a family from the southern Italian region of Calabria, with direct links to 'Ndrangheta.
His partner, Gloria E.C.A. , a 47-year-old Colombian woman allegedly served as an intermediary and was in charge of making contacts in Colombia to bring the drugs to Spain.Both were caught with the cocaine, hidden in a plastic bag inside a car they were driving.
Giuseppe F. reportedly transported the drugs to Italy, using different vehicles with hidden compartments to hide the cocaine packages.
Italy's four main criminal organisations are the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra in Naples and the surrounding Campania region, the 'Ndrangheta in the southern region of Calabria, and the Sacra Corona Unita in the southern Puglia region.Giuseppe F. reportedly transported the drugs to Italy, using different vehicles with hidden compartments to hide the cocaine packages.
Italy's four main criminal organisations are the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra in Naples and the surrounding Campania region, the 'Ndrangheta in the southern region of Calabria, and the Sacra Corona Unita in the southern Puglia region.

Factory fire kills 55 in Morocco

fire roared through a mattress factory yesterday, killing 55 people and injuring a dozen others, the official news agency reported. Most of the deaths occurred on the building's third floor where women sew, according to a worker who escaped.
Rachida Darif, 29, said she saved herself by crawling through a space to the roof, then jumping down from a neighboring building that was under construction. She said she used a construction cord to lower herself part way and then jumped.
About 100 people were in the factory when the fire broke out about 10 a.m. and quickly spread through the four-story building, according to the news agency. Chemical products in the factory added to the fury of the flames. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known

Eastern European criminal gang recovered jewellery is to be placed on show in the Altea Civil Guard barracks

Civil Guard in Altea has broken up a criminal gang made up mostly of people from Eastern Europe which has been robbing homes in the provinces of Alicante and Albacete.Those arrested are six men and a woman, aged between 26 and 45 who were living in Altea, Alfaz del Pí and La Nucía. Their nationalities are Romanian, Russian, Moldavian, Lithuanian and Spanish.Two large vehicles were impounded by the authorities, together with a large amount of jewellery, fake documents, computers and mobile phones, a 7.65 calibre pistol and tools used for breaking and entering.
The recovered jewellery is to be placed on show in the Altea Civil Guard barracks so it can be recognised and claimed by its owners.