Galician drug runners, who sparked a diplomatic incident when they were chased into Gibraltar Port by a Spanish Guardia Civil launch

Courts in Gibraltar have found the two alleged Galician drug runners, who sparked a diplomatic incident when they were chased into Gibraltar Port by a Spanish Guardia Civil launch, guilty of entering Gibraltar illegally and illegally importing a launch with two 2,500 cc outboard motors, prohibited on the Rock. They were also charged with entering a military zone.Francisco Javier Otero and José Antonio Falcón, both from Pontevedra, were each fined...

Body of a tramp, with an axe buried in his head, has been found in a Fuengirola car park.

The victim was well known in the area, and reported to be a user of the Las Lagunas health centre, and was found by the National Police on Friday morning after the health service received a phone call just after 5am, saying that a doctor was needed in the street, Calle Antonio Rubio Torres, to certify the death of a person.The National Police have opened a full investigati...

Four people have been arrested in Alicante in connection with the illegal recording of new feature films in local cinemas

Four people have been arrested in Alicante in connection with the illegal recording of new feature films in local cinemas. Police say the recordings were made at off-peak times and have described the operation as the largest of its type in Europe against the making of pirate recording in cinemas.The case broke when one of the group was caught recording a film with high definition equipment in an Alicante cinema, and police say the group then uploaded the recordings made to the internet, using servers in France and Germany.Police carried out searches...

100 kilo lioness escaped from the vehicle which was transferring her to Italy.

A-92 motorway was closed to traffic near Loja, Granada province, on Saturday morning, after a 100 kilo lioness escaped from the vehicle which was transferring her to Italy. The alarm was raised by passing motorists shortly after 9am on Saturday, and the Sevilla-bound carriageway was closed off after the animal was found calmly wandering along the road at kilometre 191 of the A-92.Experts from the Junta de Andalucía’s environmental department brought...

clients affected by the collapse of the Trampolin Hills golf resort in Campos del Río gathered at the site on Saturday in a protest

100 or so of the hundreds of clients affected by the collapse of the Trampolin Hills golf resort in Campos del Río gathered at the site on Saturday in a protest to demand their money back and for those responsible to be sent to prison. The first of the more than 2,500 units planned at the resort were sold four years ago, but none were ever completed.It’s affected clients in Spain, the UK and Ireland, amongst other countries, and it’s understood from La Opinión de Murcia that a group of those affected have made a formal request in writing to a court...

Frankie Weber in prison on the Costa del Sol last night accused of three attempted murders.

Frankie Weber was in prison on the Costa del Sol last night accused of three attempted murders.Frankie Weber, 25, from London, is alleged to have fled to Gibraltar after stabbing three Spaniards in a street fight in Marbella.He was returned to Spain where he now faces trial. Spanish police said the wounded were only saved by swift action by medics.25 year old Martial Arts expert is wanted in connection with the stabbing of three people in a street fight in MarbellaA British man has been extradited from Gibraltar to Spain to face charges of three...

Gibraltarians treated them ‘almost like criminals ’Four Maritime Guardia Civil intercepted

Four Maritime Guardia Civil were intercepted and held for two hours by the British authorities on Gibraltar on Monday while they were in pursuit of a boat thought to be involved in drug trafficking.Reports indicate that the Spanish Minister for the Interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, then had a conversation with the Gibraltar First Minister, Peter Caruana, and this resulted in the four agents being allowed to return to Spain. El Mundo reports that Rubalcaba apologised to Caruana for the ‘incorrect action’ of the Guardia Civil. It seems that they...

Police are investigating how two men attempted to force Grace Preston, 15, into their car in broad daylight.

Police are investigating how two men attempted to force Grace Preston, 15, into their car in broad daylight.The English girl, from Woking, was walking home from school at 2.30pm when two men confronted her outside her local supermarket.The ‘Spanish-looking’ men in their late 20s, ran around in front of her as she walked along the pavement, but she managed to run into crowded shopping centre Las Jarales and hide in a bar. one of the men had chased after her, but didn’t spot her cowering in Harley’s Bar.“You never think it’s going to be your son...

Four attempted teenage kidnappings over the past month in Calahonda.

Fortunately, in each case the victims have managed to escape the clutches of their assailants in the nick of time.However, the mental damage will long linger in the minds of the young victims and their distraught families. Most frightening of all is the attempted abduction of 15-year-old Grace Preston. On a routine walk home from school, two men attempted to snatch her off the street. It is a tribute to Grace’s quick-thinking and sheer bravery that...

man allowed himself to be stripped off by the dancers in the full view of a number of young girls who were watching the show close to the stage.

Alicante prosecution service is investigating an event organised by a motorbike club in Pilar de la Horadada earlier this month which included exotic dancers and a striptease held in front of children. El Mundo reports that it was subsidised by the local Town Hall, who provided the marquee for the event.It was held by the Moto Club 12+1 on 15th November and brought together more than 3,000 people, including one man who allowed himself to be stripped off by the dancers in the full view of a number of young girls who were watching the show close...

Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella child eating cake which had been made with vodka and marijuana

three year old girl was admitted to the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella last Sunday night after eating cake which had been made with vodka and marijuana.There are contradictory versions about exactly what happened, but it is clear that the Local Police received an emergency call on Sunday from Nueva Andalucía. Once in the property they called an ambulance, and the child is now back home after undergoing detoxification treatment. Local police have arrested two women in relation with the case, one is a family member to the child, and the other...

Police in Málaga have shot dead a 54 year old

Police in Málaga have shot dead a 54 year old unemployed labourer, Antonio S.F., after he had fired at them with a hunting rifle, injuring one agent seriously, and another less so.The National Police were called to the scene in the Santa Rosalia district of Málaga city on Wednesday evening on reports of a possible case of domestic violence and found that the man had already injured two people. He had stabbed his daughter and her boyfriend.Neighbours told the La Opinión de Málaga newspaper that the aggressor, known locally as ‘El Manzanillas’, was...

72 year old man was found hanging by the neck at his home in the Almería village of Cóbdar

72 year old man was found hanging by the neck at his home in the Almería village of Cóbdar on Thursday morning, who it appears committed suicide after killing his wife and brother. It’s understood from EFE that the 80 year old brother had a disability and lived with the couple at their home.There’s little information on what happened, but it’s believed that Antonio N.C. first killed his wife, Herminia, aged 67, and then his brother, before committing suicide. The Civil Guard found the three bodies after a phone call was made to emergency services...

Santiago Mainar, the forestry worker accused and found guilty of killing Miguel Grima, the Mayor of the town of Fago

Santiago Mainar, the forestry worker accused and found guilty of killing Miguel Grima, the Mayor of the town of Fago, has been sentenced to twenty years and nine months in prison. The prosecutor had asked for just three months more for the killing and the illegal possession of firearms.The accused was told the verdict in hospital in Zaragoza where he was admitted last Tuesday after a suspected overdose of pills, although his family who have visited say he has denied trying to commit suicide.He will also have to pay 105,000 € in compensation to...

Torrevieja shotgun fired in the street

young man brought panic to Torrevieja on Friday by firing a shotgun in the street. It happened at 1020am in the centre of the town in Calle San Pascual and Calle Villa de Madrid.The local man fired several shots into the air causing no injuries but sending pedestrians in the area running for cover.More than twenty police and civil guards, some of them with pistols in hand took part in the operation to capture the man who is said to suffer mental problems. He was first taken to the Civil Guard barracks and then later transferred to a health cen...

76 kilos of hashish hidden in the airbag of their car.

Police in Madrid have arrested two people who were found to have 76 kilos of hashish hidden in the airbag of their car.There were ‘acorns’ of hashish were also hidden in the side back panels of the car.Police had been following the car since Granada, and were aware that the traffickers were using a second advanced vehicle to advise the presence of any controls.Police followed the cars before intercepting when they headed to a district in the north of the capital. Those arrested had used a sophisticated electronic system which was activated by remote...

eight Spaniards, six men and two women, all aged between 20 and 45, have been arrested in Santa Pola, Alicante for growing and then selling marihuana

eight Spaniards, six men and two women, all aged between 20 and 45, have been arrested in Santa Pola, Alicante for growing and then selling marihuana. Five kilos of the drug was recovered by the Guardia Civil in the operation and they note that one of those detained kept the drug in shoe boxes, classified by its quality. Three homes in Elche were also searched as part of the operation and precision scales and a sum of cash seiz...

British man and woman, both in their 50’s have been arrested at the El Altet airport

British man and woman, both in their 50’s have been arrested at the El Altet airport in Alicante after they were found to be carrying 1,540 grams of cocaine.The two are named only with initials in reports, but the man is known to be 53 year old A.M., and the woman 57 year old A.G.The arrest, on charges of a crime against public health, took place at about 1pm last Friday December 4th in the arrivals terminal of the airport. The drugs were found hidden in the rucksack that the woman was carrying while the man also had two packets of the drug packed...

Alleged Mafia Busts Across Southern Italy possible Costa connection

In three separate and unrelated sweeps across Italy police have arrested more than 100 suspected mobsters and seized $360 million in assets allegedly implicating the Parisi clan from the Sacra Corona Unita or Puglian Mafia, the Cosa Nostra or Sicilian Mafia, and the Somma-La Marca clan from the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia as reported by Adnkronos. The largest bust involved the arrest of 74 alleged members and associates of the Parisi clan, including politicians and businessmen, in the city of Bari as reported by Nicole Winfield for The Associated...

Spanish lawyer has disappeared along with an estimated €5 million of client’s money

British expats are amongst 26 investors who fear the worst after a Spanish lawyer has disappeared along with an estimated €5 million of client’s money. The lawyer in question Jose Luis Maseda was handling transactions for the purchase of new holiday homes in the Costa del Sol.Maseda, who speaks fluent English, is believed to have handled the money, whilst advising his clients to invest in a number of suspect apartment developers across the south of Spain.One development that Maseda is thought to have dealt with is the controversial golf resort...

Simone Castello was arrested in Archena, some 24 kms from Murcia City

9 people were arrested in Palmermo for links to the Sicilian mafia's former boss of bosses.A suspect has been arrested in Murcia in connection with an operation by police in Italy against the Sicilian mafia which saw nine people taken into custody in the island’s capital, Palermo. An eleventh arrest warrant was issued for another suspect who is already serving time in prison.All 11 are believed to have provided help to the Sicilian mafia’s former ‘boss of bosses’, Bernardo Provenzano, during the 43 years he was on the run. He was arrested in 2006.The...

kidnap in Mijas

Two men, reported as German, have been arrested by the Civil Guard on suspicion of plotting a kidnap in Mijas, allegedly planning to target a family in the jewellery industry. Diario Sur reports that the husband trades in jewels and diamonds.Officers were called out to the family home earlier this week after the wife, noted by Sur as a foreigner, reported that she had noticed someone following her that day and had then seen a suspicious car parked outside her house. The Civil Guard located the vehicle nearby shortly after arriving at the property...

50 violent robberies across Alicante’s Marina Baixa and Marina Alta

Civil Guard have solved a string of 50 violent robberies across Alicante’s Marina Baixa and Marina Alta with the arrest of 9 people across the border with Valencia, in Gandia and Beniarjó. All the gang members, apart from a woman from Honduras, are Kosovar Albanians.The arrests took place this Tuesday when the six properties used by the gang were searched by officers from the Civil Guard, who seized a sawn-off shotgun, two pistols and 17,000 € in cash. A large amount of stolen items were recovered, including laptop computers, jewellery and watches,...

Prostitutes in Sevilla are set to jump to the top of the council housing lists under new legislation from the City Hall

Prostitutes in Sevilla are set to jump to the top of the council housing lists under new legislation from the City Hall. The new legislation considers the prostitutes as victims and considers the best way to get them off the streets is by encouraging them to chose alternatives. The City Hall is carrying out a study into problem, and drawing up a map to show the districts of risk in the city, which will be updated every six months.New information advertising campaigns are being started but the main change in the legislation is that the prostitutes,...

Spanish men captive in a house on an urbanisation in La Cala del Moral

Civil Guard are seeking a gang of kidnappers who held two Spanish men captive in a house on an urbanisation in La Cala del Moral last week, before leaving them there bound hand and foot when they realised they had made a mistake.The kidnappers, reported by Diario Sur as foreign, were armed with guns fitted with silencers when they arrived at the property on the afternoon of Monday 23rd November, demanding the payment of 1 million € to release their captives. Their victims insisted that they had no money and their assailants finally realised they...

Arrest in Málaga, Sevilla and Madrid of 9 members of a drugs network which smuggled cocaine into the country from South America

investigation launched by the Organised Crime and Drugs Squad on the Costa del Sol has resulted in the arrest in Málaga, Sevilla and Madrid of 9 members of a drugs network which smuggled cocaine into the country from South America. National Police said 20 kilos of cocaine were seized in the police operation.Led by two people from Nigeria, the network used couriers to bring the drugs in through Spanish airports hidden inside pictures and other items in their luggage. It’s understood the couriers were recruited by Spanish members of the network and...

730 cases of corruption currently open in the Spanish judiciary

total of 730 cases of corruption currently open in the Spanish judiciary, 594 judicial proceedings and 136 investigations opened by the prosecutors’ office.The Socialist party is the one most affected. The PSOE has 264 cases, the PP 200, 43 against the Canary Islands Coalition, 30 against the Catalan group, Convergencia i Unió, 24 against the Partido Andalucista, 20 against left wingers IU, and 17 against the now defunct GIL party which was based in Marbella. The remaining cases come from Unión Mallorquina, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, the...

Arrested the two alleged Czech hit men who are accused of killing the Mayor of Polop

Arrested the two alleged Czech hit men who are accused of killing the Mayor of Polop, Alejandro Ponsoda, outside his home on the night of October 19 2007.It takes the number of people arrested in the case to five, three of whom have already been sent to prison on remand by the judge.The two alleged hitmen were arrested in Benidorm and La Cala de Finestrat, and had been linked to one of those detained, Raúl Montero Trevejo who already has drug trafficking charges against him. It’s thought the group planned the crime in a meeting held in an alternative...

140 kilos of cocaine brought into port in Tarragona on containers of bananas imported from Ecuador

Three suspects have been arrested in Valencia after the discovery by the Civil Guard of more than 140 kilos of cocaine brought into port in Tarragona on containers of bananas imported from Ecuador. It’s understood the cargo was brought in on a ship flying under the flag of Malta and was bound for a company in Valencia, leading detectives to the arrest in Valencia of a Spanish woman and two men from Colombia.The Civil Guard began their investigation in mid-October, saying in a statement released this weekend that documentation linking the suspects...

Spanish Civil Guard incursions a violation of British sovereignty

British Embassy in September described Civil Guard incursions as a violation of British sovereigntyIt’s been revealed by EFE this Sunday, that, following two incidents this September, the UK asked Spain to stop Civil Guard ‘incursions’ into waters considered to belong to Gibraltar, considering them as a violation of British sovereignty. The incidents concerned were on 4th and 7th September, when Civil Guard patrol boats seen within the Rock’s 3 mile perimeter were asked to depart after the Spanish officers reportedly failed to justify their presence...

HMS Scimitar was using Flag No.1 during gunnery practice _ not the Spanish national flag.

"HMS Scimitar was using Flag No.1 during gunnery practice _ not the Spanish national flag. Flag No.1 is traditionally used on gunnery targets due to its high visibility. However, we recognize its similarity to the Spanish national flag and will use an alternative marker during gunnery practice in this area in the future," a ministry spokesman in London said on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.When a Spanish Civil Guard patrol boat approached the British vessel, the sailors in it quickly pulled the buoy out of the water, covered...

Murder of Alejandro Ponsoda

Several members of the Unidad Central Operativa (UCO), a sub-unit of the Guardia Civil, have confirmed that they arrested three individuals last Thursday in connection with the murder of Alejandro Ponsoda, the former Mayor of Polop. At least two of the suspects arrested in Albatera in the south of Alicante Province this week are known to be of Czech origin. Those arrested are thought to be ‘proxy’ killers, hired by a third party to get rid of...

British Navy patrol firing at the Spanish flag.

tensions between Gibraltar and Spain are rising after the Guardia Civil came across a British Navy patrol which, the paper says, was carrying out firing practice last Tuesday on a buoy on which the Spanish flag was printed.El Mundo reports that the British cleared away their exercise when they noted the presence of the Guardia Civil, but the paper highlights that they had been firing at the Spanish flag.The paper says that incidents between the Guardia Civil and the British Navy patrols around The Rock are ever more common. Spain believes such...

Italian gang of armed bank robbers are in custody after the initial 3 arrests after the Málaga robbery

An Italian gang of armed bank robbers responsible for a string of assaults on branches in Málaga, Alicante, Valencia and Murcia have been arrested by National Police following the earlier arrest in Málaga of three of the group.Investigations then led National Police detectives to Granada province where the remaining two gang members were taken into custody at a service station in Loja. One of the two arrested there was the mother of another gang member and had a lengthy record in Italy for previous bank robberies.The Interior Ministry gives the...

Michael Dermot McArdle was found guilty of negligent homicide at his trial

Supreme Court has confirmed the Málaga provincial court’s verdict in the death in Marbella in February 2000 of a woman who fell to her death from a hotel balcony. The victim’s Irish husband was found guilty of negligent homicide at his trial and Spain’s highest court has now confirmed that ruling after refusing to admit for consideration the appeal placed by his lawyers.The sentence was previously confirmed by the Andalucía High Court some months ago.It happened on 11th February 2000, the day, Diario Sur notes, that the couple, 39 year old Michael...

Juan Antonio Yagüe, a former GIL councillor in Marbella and brother to the town’s ex Mayor, Marisol Yagüe, has accepted serving nine sentences

Juan Antonio Yagüe, a former GIL councillor in Marbella and brother to the town’s ex Mayor, Marisol Yagüe, has accepted serving nine sentences of 15 months in prison for planning charges against him which were due to come to court in Málaga. The news of the deal was revealed by Diario Sur this Monday and it’s understood that Yagüe has accepted serving the terms which had been requested by the prosecution service.Yagüe fled the country in 2006 and was arrested earlier this year on returning to Spain from Venezuela, after giving himself up to the...

British man is in Intensive Care after a stabbing incident in Fuengirola

British man is in Intensive Care after a stabbing incident in Fuengirola on Friday night. The 23 year old, named by Diario Sur as D.S., is reported to have suffered two stab wounds in the back and another in his chest.It happened on a street near the town’s Rey de España paseo marítimo, and all that is known about the assailant is the brief description the victim was able to give to the bouncer of a nearby nightclub, the Mai Tai, which he managed to reach as he sought help for his injuries. He described his attacker as short and thin, possibly...

British womans body found floating in off Bolnuveo Beach in Mazarrón

body found floating in off Bolnuveo Beach in Mazarrón, near the Isla Cueva de los Lobos, on Sunday morning has been identified as a British woman reported missing by her family. Her name has not been released to the press, but she is understood from EFE to have lived locally, in the Bolnuevo area.There has been no indication as yet of exactly when the 49 year old was reported missing to the Civil Gua...

Seven youths, some of them mere children, were held by police over the weekend after a riot broke out in the Camino de los Almendrales district

Seven youths, some of them mere children, were held by police over the weekend after a riot broke out in the Camino de los Almendrales district of Malaga City on Saturday 31 October. In the course of the gang fight, one 17-year-old was gravely injured and remains in a coma in the Intensive Care Unit of the Carlos Haya Hospital.Another youth was also stabbed in the same incident. 20-year-old “AJD”, as police have identified him, is said to be in a stable condition.Local police were called to the vicinity of the brawl, but once the seriousness of...

Allegations by a man arrested for robbery that he and his girlfriend were beaten by local police officers

Allegations by a man arrested for robbery that he and his girlfriend were beaten by local police officers after they were taken into custody in June 2006 have been heard by a court and it looks as if a trial will now almost certainly take place after the Alicante provincial court recently turned down appeals placed by each of the nine defendants against their charges in the Torrevieja torture case.Twelve police officers, two Partido Popular councillors, and a nursing assistant at the Vega Baja district hospital are implicated, with possible charges...

67 year old British man died in Torrevieja hospital yesterday just hours after being hit by a vehicle

67 year old British man died in Torrevieja hospital yesterday just hours after being hit by a vehicle while walking along a pavement along Avenida Francisco Casanovas.The impact was so violent that the man was embedded between the car and the brick wall of a hou...

Five hundred people gathered in Constitution Square on Friday evening to protest at the murder of Juan Jose Martinez Roman

Five hundred people gathered in Constitution Square on Friday evening to protest at the murder of Juan Jose Martinez Roman on Monday afternoon.The city’s popular Notary was shot dead as he attempted to calm down two armed robbers during a bungled raid on his office. The robbers had earlier broken into the office cashbox from which they stole the contents, believed to be in the region of 400 euros. Although the sizeable crowd was largely calm there were calls for the maximum sentence for what was described as a despicable crime. A spokesman representing...

British man has been charged with starting a fire

British man has been charged with starting a fire which affected 1.4 hectares of scrub in the Las Fuentes area of the city on October 6 this year. Named with the initials W.T.G.L., Diario Sur reports he faces charges of negligence after carrying out an unauthorised fire in his finca in the area, which led to the bla...

Juan José Martínez Román, was shot dead in his office on Monday.

Torrevieja notary, 54 year old Juan José Martínez Román, was shot dead in his office on Monday. Police sources have said that the two thieves entered his office and demanded money at 1230 at the office in Calle Ramón Gallud. When he refused they shot him twice. Reports indicate that the made off with a quantity of money, yet to be established. Health professionals tried to revive the victim for some 45 minutes.It all happened while clients were waiting outside and other workers were busy in other offices.The attack is strange as generally business...

Spain’s largest ever hauls of heroin: 50 kilos of the drug

trial starts this week of eight people accused in one of Spain’s largest ever hauls of heroin: 50 kilos of the drug which were brought into the country hidden in the tyres of a lorry seized on an industrial estate in Torrevieja.Officers swooped on the gang’s vehicle repair shop in June 2006 as they were cutting through the tyres with a saw to remove the heroin.The eight accused in the case are reported by Diario Información as ex soldiers from Eastern...

‘jamonero de Trevélez’, sentenced this May for defrauding 200 of his neighbours

‘jamonero de Trevélez’, sentenced this May for defrauding 200 of his neighbours, has written to Ideal newspaper apologising for what he did. Antonio Herrera is behind bars in Albolote after the provincial court in Granada sentenced him to 11 years and five months in prison.He was finally arrested in the Dominican Republic in 2007 after fleeing Trevélez three years before with the money his neighbours had invested in his jamón serrano companies. He...

Woman studying pharmacy at Granada University who was found brutally stabbed to death in her flat

52 year old man, Manuel R.S., faces a trial by jury this Tuesday for the murder of Lamyae D., a 23 year old woman studying pharmacy at Granada University who was found brutally stabbed to death in her flat in March last year. She suffered more than 20 stab wounds and, according to evidence from the prosecutor, was dragged back into the flat to be stabbed again as she tried to make her escape after the initial assault.Her killer confessed to the crime, saying in his statement that he was drunk at the time and had ‘lost his head’. He faces a possible...

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

Tres muertos en un tiroteo junto al penal cántabro de El DuesoThree people were killed in a shooting outside El Dueso prison in Santoña, Cantabria, when an as yet to be identified gunman pulled up in a car driven by another man and opened fire on their van parked outside the prison. They then sped away from the scene.It has been revealed that one of the victims, known as Tomasín, was serving a sentence for four killings, and the police believe the shooting was the result of a settling of scores. Tomasín, full name Tomás Ruiz Fernández, was returning...

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

Triple murder in a shooting outside a prison in Cantabria on Monday morning was followed just a few hours later by a fatal shooting in Granada province, where two brothers from Portugal lost their lives. It happened at lunchtime on the industrial estate in Ogíjares, near the provincial capital, when another man arrived at the restaurant where the brothers were eating.They began a violent argument and both brothers, A.R. and M.R., were killed in the...

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

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

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

Operation controlled by the Instruction Court Two in Torrevieja, a group of 19 people, 13 Albano Kosovo men, and six Romanian women, have been arrested in connection with a series of thefts from villas while their owners were asleep inside.The arrests were carried out by more than 20 people from the specialist ECO unit of the Guardia Civil who say the group are implicated in non violent burglaries carried out mostly in Valencia province, but also in Castellón, Alicante and Tarragona. Often a luxury car would be taken.Investigations started more...

Paedo on the run in Huelva

suspected paedophile is on the run in Huelva after escaping from cells at the city’s provincial court. He is a 28 year old Belgian named as S.P.T.S. who was arrested on Sunday for alleged sexual abuse of his girlfriend’s young daughter.It’s understood that both he and the girlfriend live locally.The man managed to escape custody on Monday by faking severe stomach pains, assaulting the National Police officer who accompanied him to the bathroom and eluding capture by the Civil Guard officers who were on guard duty at the doors to the court building.Europa...

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

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

Olga Pleguezuelos Puzueu stabbed several times

Scotland Yard has opened an investigation into the death of Olga Pleguezuelos Puzueu. The 35 year old Spanish woman was married to the Briton, Mark Campbell, the information director of the ILD company which wants to build the largest casino complex in Europe, Gran Scala, in the Los Monegros desert in Aragón.A statement from the British police says they received an emergency call from a resident of a home in Harrow and found the body of the woman on their arrival at the scene. It had been stabbed several times.A 53 year old man was arrested at...

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

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

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

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

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

Alicante leads the field for the number of vehicle thefts which take place in the province every day, surpassing even the capital, Madrid, in official figures from the Attorney General’s office for cases of this type which came to court last year.Of the almost 80,000 cases in Spain last year, close to 13,900 of them were in Alicante. It’s an average of 38 vehicles every day and equates to one in every six vehicles stolen across the country.Diario Información notes that, while vehicle theft in Spain as a whole rose by 5.4% last year, the result...

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

A Civil Guard officer called out to an accident at Las Pedrizas this April, then killed by another vehicle which skidded in the heavy rain, was remembered by his colleagues this Sunday, when his father was awarded a posthumous decoration on his behalf of his son.José Luis Blanca Lorca, who was based in Casabermeja, was 37 years old when he died and received a standing ovation in his memory at celebrations held at Civil Guard command in Málaga ahead of the Día del Pilar, the patron saint of the armed forces and of the Civil Guard.Diario Sur reports...

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

Civil Guards are in hospital after their barracks in Los Montecillos, Dos Hermanas in Sevilla, was attacked by a crowd of local residents on Saturday night. The incident began when a group of youngsters started throwing stones onto the garage roof at the barracks and they and their colleagues came out into the street to try and put a stop to their actions.They were, however, forced to retreat back inside and call for reinforcements, as stones and other objects rained down from nearby balconies and windows. El País reports some 40 people were involved...

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

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

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

man charged with an axe attack in Órgiva two years ago pleaded guilty at his trial at the Granada provincial court this Tuesday, and has accepted a prison term of 3 years and 9 months for attempted murder. The victim, Francisco G.E., was attacked from behind with the weapon after an argument with his assailant’s father in a local bar, suffering a fracture in his skull.It happened in May 2007 after Francisco G.E. came to blows with his attacker’s father, José L.B., now deceased, during their argument in the bar. The father later told his son what...

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

El País printed details of links from the Gürtel corruption case to the Costa del Sol. One of the companies implicated in the affair, Teconsa, gave donations worth 318,000 € to Alhaurín el Grande, where the Mayor Juan Martín Serón spent the money on a library and the sponsorship of a basketball team. The paper says the money was paid via the Proinsa company, which planned to build 2,500 homes with swimming pools and golf course in the area known as Finca la Mota. Juan Martín Serón is currently released on 100,000 € bail and facing charges of perversion...

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

Britain's most wanted man has been arrested in Spain – after four years on the run.Ronald Priestley, 69, from Colton, Leeds, masterminded a £4.25m banknote counterfeit fraud.He was sentenced to eight years in his absence four years ago.Priestley was arrested in Malaga. A world-wide hunt for him was launched when he failed to attend a Leeds Crown Court hearing in August 2005 to face charges of conspiracy to counterfeit £20 banknotes with a face value of £4.25m.He had disappeared from his luxury home in Colton. The house was protected by electric...

Richard Henry Roberts sentenced in Daniel Hastelow murder case

36 year old Briton, Richard Henry Roberts, has been sent to prison for 18 years for killing his compatriot, Daniel Hastelow in January 2008. The court in Palma de Mallorca heard how the accused had stabbed the sleeping victim eight times.A second Briton arrested at the time, Paul A. Griffiths, was found not guilty and released without charge.The court and jury considered it proved that after an argument in a bar earlier the aggressor, Richard H Roberts,...

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

Brutal Marbella crime syndicate plotted to snatch and ransom the family of a top UK TV presenter. brutal crime syndicate plotted to snatch and ransom the family of a top TV presenter.Law agencies across Europe fear any celeb is at risk in the Spanish resorts where Britons flock for sunshine holidays.The player, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was targeted while visiting the area at the end of last year's football season. But the plan was aborted at the last minute.Ex-British intelligence agent Paul Grimshaw, now a security consultant in...

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

Two gang members who are thought to have fled to Spain after raiding HSBC .As reported yesterday Patrick McDonagh and Carl Hargin were jailed for stealing more than £300,000 from the Westbourne Road branch in an armed, daylight robbery in June.Hargin, 24, got eight years and eight months and McDonagh, 28, got seven years and four months after admitting the offence.Det Chf Insp McDermott, of West Yorkshire Police’s crime division, said: “They were obviously dangerous and very professional in the way they planned and prepared the offence, using stolen...

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

Michael Eddleston, 27, from Doncaster, is accused of three counts of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs. He was one of 10 men featured earlier this month in an appeal on the Costa Del Sol, known as Operation Captura. The Crimestoppers charity said Mr Eddleston surrendered himself at the British Consulate in Majorca. It said his arrest was a "fantastic result". Mr Eddleston is alleged to be a member of a crime group which carried out a drug trafficking operation from Doncaster and Morley in West Yorkshire. He was identified after a joint investigation...

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

35 year old man wanted in the United States in connection with child pornography has been arrested in Spain while trying to leave the country. The arrest was made in Málaga by officers from the international crime unit of the Costa del Sol Organised Crime and Drugs Squad and the National Court in Madrid will now handle the suspect’s extradition back to the United States.Named by Europa Press as M.R.W., he was wanted on a warrant from the Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona on 10 counts of possession, transport and distribution of child pornography....

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

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

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

Andalucía High Court has reduced sentencing for the 22 year old man, Francisco M.P.P., found guilty earlier this year of the murder of a teenager who was stabbed while trying to break up a fight in Benalmadena’s Plaza Solymar two years ago.The accused was found guilty at a trial by jury this May and sentenced to 17 years in prison.The High Court has however ruled, in a decision published by La Opinión de Málaga this Tuesday, that there was no premeditation in the fatal stabbing, reducing Francisco M.P.P.’s sentence to 13 years behind bars and finding...

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

84 year old man from Belgium died in the Santa Ana district hospital in Motril this Monday after what his wife said was a brutal attack at his home in Almuñécar two weeks ago. Named by Granada Hoy newspaper as R.L.N., he was rescued from his flat on the morning of 8th September, where he was found lying naked and badly injured by the officers and firemen who broke down the door after neighbours heard shouting from his home.The paper notes information from sources at the hospital that his injuries were consistent with a fall.The pensioner’s 77 year...

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

British man who had an European Arrest Warrant in place against him for rape has been detained in Girona.Named by police as 42 year old Bird C, he was arrested last Saturday afternoon on his arrival at Girona airport on a flight from Doncaster in the U.K.. He is wanted in connection with the rape of a young woman in Germany in 1997.Because Britain is not a member of the Schengen agreement, the arrivals at Girona are considered as being from outside the European Union and therefore passports are subjected to greater scrutiny, and that is how his...

Europe’s biggest haul of heroin Seseña, Toledo

National Police in Spain have recovered one of Europe’s biggest hauls of heroin so far this year: 35 kilos of the drug found hidden in the hydraulic brake system of a lorry parked at a service station in Seseña, Toledo.It’s a method of smuggling which has not been seen in Spain before, and it appears the heroin was brought into the country from Bulgaria with the aim of distributing it in Madrid and Aragón.Six people were taken into custody, including...

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

Trial was due to start at the Murcia provincial court this Thursday of a 34 year old man who killed his mother in the bar she owned in Santomera last year and then carried her decapitated head around the town under his arm.It happened on 15th April 2008 when Ángelo C. stabbed his 56 year old mother, T.M., four times in the abdomen, cut off her head and carried it around town wrapped in a bloody rag until he was arrested by police.It was revealed after the killing that the mother had been on Spanish television before she died saying she was terrified...

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

UK charity Crimestoppers has launched a new appeal for British fugitives believed to be on the run on in Spain, with a list of the ten most wanted thought to be hiding out on the Costa del Sol. The charges include drug offences, robbery and rape.Crimestoppers said some of them are the UK’s most dangerous child sex offenders.The appeal launched this Wednesday comes under Operación Captura, run jointly with the SOCA Serious Organised Crime Agency...

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

Paedophile on the run for abusing a nine-year-old girl could be hiding in a Spanish resort. Now investigators will be launching a manhunt for wanted Stephen Burnell, as part of a wider investigation into ten known criminals thought to have fled to Costa Del Sol region of Spain. Burnell, 55, went on the run in 2007 after sacking his defence team days before his trial was due to start. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment for carrying out a...

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

National Court judge has indicted three former SS guards at Nazi concentration camps for genocide and crimes against humanity and has issued international warrants for their arrest.The National Court judge Ismael Moreno said in a ruling this Thursday that Johann Leprich and Anton Tittjung are believed to be living in the United States, while the third suspect, Josias Kumpf, is believed to be in Austria.His ruling comes after a complaint presented by two Spanish survivors of the Nazi death camps against four SS guards at the Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen...

Homeless man found dead in Motril on Sunday

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

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

Civil Guard officer is in a coma in a Málaga hospital after being hit by a drunk driver on the A-357 road to Campillos early on Sunday. The officer was hit as he was directing traffic away from the scene of another accident minutes before, suffering serious head injuries, with additional injuries to his legs and a lung, in the impact. The 27 year old from Málaga, J.J.B.O., is now in Intensive Care in Carlos Haya Hospital.The driver in the first accident was freed from his vehicle by firemen and is reported by Málaga Hoy newspaper to also have been...

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

Civil Guard have revealed drug hauls amounting to more than six tons of cannabis resin in Málaga province since the beginning of this month, with an additional 919 kilos of marijuana seized during that time. 23 people have been arrested in connection with public health crimes.The latest find was 1.7 tons of cannabis in a van dumped after an accident on the A-7 motorway in Estepona some days ago, which followed a Civil Guard chase when the driver...

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

Trial starts of two British men, named as Richard Henry Roberts, 35, and Anthony Griffths, 22 ., who are accused of killing another Briton, 26 year old Daniel Hastelow, and breaking into his home in Magaluf on Mallorca in January this year.The attack came at 4am on the morning after the victim’s birthday in an apartment in Calle Contra almirante Riviera in Magaluf, but an argument had started before that in a local pup. This allegedly led the attackers to go to the home of the victim, armed with a baseball bat and knife. The victim was stabbed...

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

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

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

Their identities have yet to be confirmed, but it's understood a British couple disappeared at the time they are believed to have died.The British Consulate is reported to have been in contact with the Civil Guard in Alicante province in connection with the two bodies found in an isolated area of the Sierra de Bèrnia, in Llíber, on Sunday. There are concerns that they could be a British couple who have been missing since July and it’s understood that the badly-decomposed bodies discovered by a hunter in the paraje de Marnes could have been there...

20 people were involved in the fight early on Wednesday

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

Woman has been arrested for the Level 2 wildfire in Estepona

woman has been arrested for the Level 2 wildfire in Estepona last week which destroyed more than 500 hectares of land and spread over the border with Casares. The flames blazed for almost 30 hours before they were finally brought under control last Thursday evening.The investigation ruled out an accident or negligence as the cause of the fire, and in fact a municipal employee had seen someone fleeing the area when the fire started in the area of Los Pedregales on Wednesday afternoon last week.The woman arrested on suspicion of having set the blaze...

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

Civil Guard have transported almost three and a half tons of marijuana plants to the barracks in Salobreña, which they found growing in a greenhouse in Molvízar. The owner is reported to have claimed he was growing cherry tomatoes.Officers found 455 marijuana plants growing there, some of them reaching a height of 3 metres. Their total weight was found to be 3,380 kilos.Europa Press said the man who was growing them admitted to a judge in Motril that he planned to dry and sell his crop, and he’s now on remand for a public health crime. He also...

Wanted drugs smuggler has been arrested in San Pedro de Alcántara

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

Well-known local businessman has been found shot dead

Well-known local businessman has been found shot dead in Ronda, a 55 year old named by Diario Sur as J.M.S. whose body was discovered near the Legion headquarters in La Indiana at around 2.30 on Tuesday afternoon. The businessman is understood to have owned land in La Indiana.A man is already in custody for his murder, an 18 year old named as D.R.F. from Almería who was arrested in Algodonales, Cádiz province, on Tuesday afternoon. He was seen with the victim in his car shortly before the shooting, and then running off to catch a taxi to escape...

Police in Ireland have seized 1 million € worth of cocaine

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