Hookers and pimps are fleecing boozed-up Brits and Marbella remains a bolthole for UK villains on the run.

Our man bought a gram of cocaine in a plush waterfront bar in mega-rich Puerto Banus, on the outskirts of Marbella, in a daylight deal.

Taking e60 (£53) for the powder the dealer, Craig from Newcastle, said: “It’s about 60% pure and is knock-out gear.
“Some Venezuelans have brought a load over for the season.”

He added: “If you’re out later I’ll have some MDMA, the Spaniards love it.”

There’s another drugs craze sweeping the resort – steroids.

Muscle-bound posers are snapping up human growth hormones and gangs are cashing in on the demand by smuggling them to and from the UK.

Seven men living in Marbella were “leading members” of a crew of 26 arrested last month with 10,000 phials.

Just a stone’s throw from the harbour and its designer shops and billionaires’ yachts is a road the Spaniards call Calle del Infierno – Hell Street.

It is here Brits are fleeced by the vice girls. Russian, Hungarian, Ghanaian, Brazilian and Romanian sex workers line the street.

Anita, from Budapest, said: “For e150, I show you good sex time.

“You are English? I love the English, they are favourite customers.”

They also love money. In Sinatra’s bar on the seedy strip, Tony, from Southampton, told how a Russian street prostitute he slept with swiped e200 (£176) from his back pocket.

He said: “Apparently it’s happening a lot because there’s so many tourists.”

A Spanish policeman later told us: “The prostitutes will steal your money, stay away.”

Violent pimps are always close at hand. We saw one English lad try to leave a hooker and just escape being pummelled by two heavies.

Marbella is in the grip of organised crime. Brit gangs with members from Liverpool, Manchester, London and Newcastle are here.

So is an Irish heavy mob. But Eastern Europeans hold the biggest sway.

One underworld source said: “The Russians and Albanians are the ones to watch. They run most of the hookers and most of the clubs. Extortion is a big money maker but also drugs.

“The big hitters jumped ship for a while because Marbella died a bit of a death. But now it’s booming again.

“So a lot of the villains are back to make their millions.” Many of the Brit crooks are into protection rackets and extortion scams.

A Serious Organised Crime Agency source said: “One of the main rackets for Brits now is boiler room fraud.

“Criminals are pressing vulnerable businessmen into ploughing savings into shares that don’t exist. It’s costing people tens of thousands of pounds.”

Marbella is still a bolthole for ex-pat criminals. Last month suspected drug baron James Dempsey, 33, from Essex,was arrested over an alleged conspiracy to flood the UK with cocaine.

Other suspects on the run here include Kevin Thomas Parle, wanted over a fatal 2004 shooting in Liverpool.