OC in Spain

Spanish shooting blamed on Dublin gangs' revenge attack
Henry McDonald, Ireland editor
The Observer, Sunday August 24 2008

The gangland war against Dublin criminal John Gilligan has shifted to Spain's Costa del Sol. Gardai believe that the attempted murder of a former member of Gilligan's drugs gang in Andalusia was linked to threats against the crime boss. Peter Mitchell was shot outside a bar on a complex in Puerto Banus, near Marbella, on Thursday night.

Two other people wounded in the shooting were innocent bystanders from Ireland, says the Republic's Department of Foreign Affairs. One of the two other victims was a 73-year-old Irishman.

Spanish police were waiting yesterday to interview 39-year-old Mitchell, who is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries. Mitchell, who fled to Spain in 1996, had been one of a number of gangsters targeted in a major state operation against the Gilligan gang.

Security sources in the Republic last night linked the murder bid on the Spanish coast to a new campaign by rival Irish criminals against Gilligan and his associates.

Earlier this month it was revealed that Gilligan was receiving 24-hour protection inside Portlaoise to safeguard him from other prisoners.

Rival criminals are angry over his recent interview in Irish pop magazine Hot Press, via a mobile phone. This contributed to a security crackdown, which has affected the operations of other gang leaders inside.

A Gardai source said: 'Up until then, a number of jailed criminals were still able to run their empires from inside. Now they can't communicate with their teams and they blame Gilligan for that.

'Gilligan was badly beaten up by a young Dublin criminal in front of other inmates. And these rivals are not just prepared to go after him it seems; they have the team and the firepower to hunt down the remaining members of his old gang, most of whom are now in Spain.'

In recent years the Irish underworld, alongside the Russian mafia and British gangsters, have fought for control of the lucrative drugs trade in southern Spain.

'Most wanted' drug trafficker arrested
Story Highlights
Drug trafficker on U.S. State Department most wanted list is arrested in Spain
Spanish police say he was arrested outside luxury Madrid hotel
U.S. says he heads one of South America's most violent drugs operations
U.S. State Department had offered a $5 million reward for his arrest.


(CNN) -- Spanish police announced Friday the arrest of one of the most sought-after narcotraffickers in the world, Edgar Guillermo Vallejo Guarin, also known as "Beto the Gypsy."

Vallejo Guarin was arrested outside a luxury hotel in central Madrid with the collaboration of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Spanish Civil Guard said in a news release.

Vallejo Guarin has a long history of violence, involvement in money laundering of drug funds and corruption of high-level government officials, the release said.

Among the nations seeking him was the United States, which had offered a $5 million reward to anyone who helped bring about his capture.

He was also on the U.S. State Department's Most Wanted list.

In June 2001, he was accused in Florida of being a principal source of cocaine smuggled from Colombia into the United States throughout the 1990s.

"He is responsible for the shipment of a multitude of tons of cocaine via ship to the United States (especially the west coast of Florida and Miami) and Europe," the release said.

In addition, he is suspected of being linked to various assassinations, it said.

It said that, when he was arrested near the hotel, Vallejo Guarin was carrying false identification documentation that identified him as Jairo Gomez.

Vallejo Guarin's permanent residence was in a suburb of Barcelona, but he had been moving among a number of hotels in Europe and Venezuela in an apparent attempt to avoid arrest, the release said.


Spanish police detain top Colombian drug trafficker
Spanish police said Friday they had detained a top Colombian drug trafficker, Edgar Guillermo Vallejo Guarin, who was wanted in the United States and several other countries.

"The detention was carried out at a luxury hotel in Madrid thanks to the cooperation of the US Drug Enforcement Agency as the United States had issued an international arrest warrant for him," a statement said.

Vallejo Guarin, 47, has a long history of violence, money laundering and involvement in bribing high-level government officials, the statement added.

He was responsible for shipping tonnes of cocaine to the United States, especially to the west coast of Florida, and to Europe and is also a suspect in several drug related murders, the statement said, citing the US State Department.

In June 2001, a Florida court indicted him for operating a criminal enterprise. It alleged that Vallejo Guarin was a major Colombian cocaine supplier to the United States from approximately 1990 to 1999.

The US State Department offered a reward of up to five million dollars (3.5 million euros) for information leading to his arrest.

Spain bust major drug ring
Spanish police seize three tonnes of hash and arrest 44 people in an international drug ring.

3 October 2008

MADRID-Spanish police destroyed one of the country's biggest drug rings,arresting 44 people,police said Friday.

Eleven others were also charged.The suspects included 34 Spaniards,13 Moroccans,as well as people from France,the Netherlands (2 people),Gibraltar and the Palestinian territories.

The arrest were made in southern Spain and in the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the Moroccan coast.

Police seized two boats and four personal water craft which transported hashish from Morocco as well as 3 tonnes of hashish and 6 pounds of cocaine.

The gang smuggled drugs from southern Spain to other European Union countries.Its members bought properties in their countries and shopped for designer clothes and jewellery in Paris,police said.

Five dutch nationals arrested..


Spanish police break up Colombian drug ring
08/10/2008 00:00

Spanish police interrupt a wedding party in Madrid Tuesday to arrest 11 suspected cocaine traffickers.

8 October 2008

MADRID -- Spanish police interrupted the wedding banquet of a suspected drug trafficker, detaining him and 10 guests, police said Tuesday.

Police used the wedding party in Madrid to capture all the suspects, most of whom were Colombian citizens.

The ring was suspected of importing cocaine hidden in shipments of legal merchandise, distributing it in Spain and legalising the actions by using real companies as a cover.

Nineteen other people were held earlier in Spain and Colombia. Spanish police took 250 kilos of cocaine in a previous phase of the operation, which was launched in 2006.

Spanish police smash drug ring,arrest 29

MADRID-Spanish police said Wednesday that they have smashed a major international drug trafficking ring,arresting 29 people nationwide and seizing 14 tonnes of hashish.

The gang smuggled in hashish from Morocco aboard a yacht equipped with a double hull where the drugs were hidden.The drugs were stored in a hangar amid construction materials and were taken by truck to the Netherlands,police said in a statement.

Besides 14 tonnes of hashish,the police seized 27 vehicles,four boats and 305.000 euros in cash in the operation.They said the total value of the assets was "more than 17 million euros" (23 million dollars).

A total of 29 people--five Dutch nationals,11 Moroccans,10 Spaniards,a Belgian,an Italian and a Romanian--were arrested at various locations in the country.

Spain is one of the main ports of entry of drugs into Europe,from hashish that has been grown on North-Africa,to Latin America cocaine,which is often smuggled in via Africa.

Spanish authorities have seized more than 100 tonnes of hashish since the start of the year.

The largest amount seized was in 1996,when police found 36 tonnes of hashish on a Panamanian-registered cargo ship off the northwest of the country.

http://www.daylife.com/photo/049VgDGdct2QH

Jail for 'Costa del Crime' Scot

John Barker was caught in Tenerife - nine years after he fled while on bail
A Scot who was caught in an operation against so-called "Costa del Criminals" has been jailed for 14 years at the High Court in Glasgow.

John Barker fled to Tenerife nine years ago while on bail for cocaine and amphetamine trafficking charges.

The 51-year-old, from Irvine, Ayrshire, was caught earlier this year after he appeared on a list of suspected British criminals thought to be in Spain.

During his trial, he had denied any involvement with drugs.

Barker was wanted by Strathclyde Police under two arrest warrants.

They related to trafficking drugs, valued at more than £110,000, within Scotland in 1998 and 1999.

He was extradited earlier this year after his details were posted on a Crimestoppers website targeting Spanish resorts.

The operation was co-ordinated by Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the Spanish authorities.

Bill Hughes, of Soca, said: "British crooks who thought they could enjoy a yachts and villas lifestyle in Spain have received a nasty shock.

"Many of them are now experiencing a rather different lifestyle at Her Majesty's pleasure."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Scot jailed in crackdown on Costa Del Crime gangs

Published Date: 22 October 2008
By Wilma Riley
A SCOT who was named one of the UK's ten most wanted men was jailed for 14 years yesterday after being caught in a drive to track down "Costa Del Crime" criminals.

John Barker, 51, who fled to Tenerife nine years ago while on bail for cocaine and amphetamine trafficking charges, was caught earlier this year.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Barker, described as a prisoner at Kilmarnock, was convicted after a three-day trial of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and amphetamine in 1998 and 1999.

His extradition to Scotland came months after his details were posted on a Crimestoppers website.

Barker, originally from Irvine, Ayrshire, fled to Spain after being granted bail at Ayr Sheriff Court on April, 1999.

Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

Colombian drug lord assassinated in Madrid hospital
Posted 1 hour 58 minutes ago

One of Colombia's most notorious drug lords, Leonidas Vargas, has been shot dead in his Madrid hospital bed, Spanish police said.

At least one person entered the room in Madrid's October 12th Hospital where Vargas was being treated for a serious illness, and shot the drug kingpin four times just before 8:00pm on Thursday (local time), police said.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo said the assassin asked another patient who was sharing the Colombian's room if he was Vargas.

When the man said no, he took out a gun fitted with a silencer and shot Vargas, who was asleep. The hospital was still locked down at 10:00pm as police searched for his killer, El Mundo said.

Neither police nor newspaper websites said whether Vargas had been under police guard.

In the 1980s Vargas, allegedly a former partner of the late Medellin cartel drug chieftain Pablo Escobar, ran his own cocaine manufacturing and smuggling operation out of a remote, jungle-covered area of Colombia's south-western Caqueta province.

A Colombian court sentenced him in 1995 to 26 years in prison for illicit enrichment related to drugs, but he was freed in 2002.

Spanish authorities picked him up for carrying a fake Venezuelan passport in 2006 and he was awaiting trial in connection to a 500-kg cocaine haul.

His trial had been delayed and prison authorities freed him after he came down with what Spanish media said was a lung-related illness.

-Reuters

4 tons of cocaine seized today in spain....i guess it's belongs to ndrangheta...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle5481234.ece
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/wor...e-14135995.html

Brother and girlfriend of slain drugs baron Vargas are shot dead

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle5517866.ece

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Irishman shot dead in Spain
Sunday, 25 January 2009


An Irishman has been shot dead in a gangland style attack in the resort of Benalmadena, near Torremolinos in Spain at approximately 11.30pm last night.


Police in the Costa del Sol have launched an investigation into the fatal attack.

It is understood the victim may be from Co Meath.

The 30-year-old, who has not been named, was walking down the street when a gunman arrived on the scene by car.

He fired several shots and the victim was hit a number of times.

It is understood he died at the scene.

It has been reported police are investigating the possibility that the murder was linked to a turf war between rival drug gangs in the area.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/eu...mes-449344.html

he has 2.4 billion euro from bribes that were paid for green light to run big construction projects in marbella.

most of the money that he earned is from the ndrangheta,camorra,cosa nostra and the russian mafia (+some more businessmen).

his official job income in marbella was 150,000 euro a year.........

this case was some years ago...i think 2002-2006...but the trial is soon...intersting stuff...

now days ndrangheta opreats tens of construction and real estate companies in marbella....nobody can do nothing about it as i can imagine....

Irishman killed in Benalmádena was on the Costa after being shot in his own country
The family stayed for a while in Alhaurín de la Torre before moving to Benalmádena
27.01.09 - 09:50 - JUAN CANO | MALAGA


Richard K, the 35 year old Irishman who died on Saturday night after being riddled with bullets in the middle of the street in Benalmádena had been a victim of a previous shooting in his country when he was taking the rubbish out. That time he was shot three times in the hand, arm and shoulder and lived to tell the tale - this time he didn't.
According to sources close to the case it was the second time that Richard K, the Irishman killed on Saturday night in Benalmádena, had been the victim of a settling of scores. Apparently the reason that he had left Ireland with his family and was living on the Costa del Sol was because of an attempt on his life in Duleek, County Meath, Ireland on November 2nd 2007. Richard K had been taking the rubbish out when he saw a man coming up close. He turned around and retraced his steps trying to get back to his house but the man opened fire. The gun man on that occasion fired five shots, three of which met their target. Richard K. was shot once in his hand, once in his arm and once in his shoulder. It was after that shooting that the Irishman came to Malaga province with his wife and four children. The family stayed for a while in Alhaurín de la Torre before moving to Benalmádena where Richard K. was gunned down.

The shooting happened just after 11 on Saturday night in Calle Alemania, next to the old N-340 road. It appears that Richard K., who had a police record in Spain, was having a drink with a relative and two friends in an Irish bar in the area. He said goodnight to them, left the bar and when he went outside he was approached by an individual who started to shoot him.
In the first instance the Irishman was shot twice then he tried to get away but he was only able to make it a few metres before he fell to the ground. At this point the attacker went up to the victim and shot him again at least four times and once in the face, according to sources close to the case.
Honda Civic

Someone, who initially thought they were hearing fireworks, called the 112 emergency services and when the police arrived on the scene they found the victim lying in a pool of blood. An ambulance was called but the medical personnel couldn't do anything to save the Irishman's life. Police officers later found eight bullet shells and spoke to witnesses nearby which led to the discovery of the abandoned red Honda Civic in which the gun man had sped off in.
The car was found in the Torrquebrada area, near a primary school. Although the engine was switched off, the keys were still in the ignition and the radio was on. Some smoke was coming out of one of the seats in the car which indicates that the intention was to set it on fire before the occupants escaped but that they didn't manage to do so or have time. Some gloves and a gun cartridge were found on the passenger seat and it looks as if there was one other person in the car as well as the gun man.
Wanted in Dublin
Police officers have taken statements from the victim's relative - who had arrived on the Costa del Sol recently from Ireland - and from one of the friends who was in the bar with him. It turns out that the friend is wanted in his country so he was therefore detained by the police and will appear before the courts here.
Investigations into the shooting currently point towards the motive being a criminal settling of scores.

For such a small country we sure are a vicious lot.

Our tentacles reach far an wide.

Italian mafia expands in Spain

Barcelona, January 19 - The Neapolitan crime organization Camorra is extending its activities in Spain, which has become one of its main bases abroad, police sources said Monday after one of the Camorra's top drug lords was detained in Barcelona.

Salvatore Zazo, 52, who is regarded as the leader of the Camorra clan Mazzarella, had purchased businesses in Spain in order to settle there, Spanish police said.

Zazo was detained at a Barcelona call centre in the company of a bodyguard on Saturday. He carried 4,000 euros (5,400 dollars) in cash and four mobile phones.

Zazo was the fourth Camorra suspect captured in Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region over six months.

He is believed to have used Spain as a base to liaise between the Camorra and Colombian drug cartels, smuggling large quantities of Colombian cocaine to Naples, the daily El Pais quoted an Italian police source as saying.

Neapolitan organized crime has created logistical bases in some of the main Spanish cities, where many Camorra drug traffickers and fugitives have settled, according to the daily.

The Camorra has a large network of Latin American and Spanish collaborators in Spain, where it also engages in money laundering, El Pais said.


http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/eur...cle_1454378.php

http://www.repubblica.it/2009/01/sezioni/c...25305_59130.jpg

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaki...6/breaking1.htm

January 31, 2009

Mafia bosses seek sun and safety on la costa nostra
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle5622165.ece

International Arms-Trafficker Monzer Al Kassar and Associate Sentenced on Terrorism Charges
Posted : Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:07:27 GMT
Author : U.S. Department of Justice
Category : Press Release

News | Home


WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 DoJ-arms-trafficking

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lev L. Dassin, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), announced that Monzer Al Kassar, a/k/a "Abu Munawar," a/k/a "El Taous," the leader of an international arms-trafficking organization, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to be used to kill Americans in Colombia. Al Kassar's associate and co-defendant Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy. United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff imposed the sentences today in Manhattan federal court.

Al Kassar and Moreno Godoy had both been found guilty on Nov. 20, 2008, following a three-week jury trial, of: (1) conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals; (2) conspiracy to murder U.S. officers; (3) conspiracy to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; (4) conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization; and (5) money laundering. According to the evidence at trial:

As part of an undercover DEA sting operation, between February 2006 and June 2007, Al Kassar and Moreno Godoy agreed to sell to the FARC more than 12,000 weapons -- including thousands of machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and surface-to-air missile systems, or "SAMs" -- along with 2 million rounds of ammunition. The agreement was discussed and made during a series of recorded telephone calls, email correspondence, and in-person meetings with two confidential sources working with the DEA, who represented that they were acquiring these weapons for the FARC, with the specific understanding that the weapons were to be used to attack United States helicopters in Colombia.

During their meetings, Al Kassar provided the DEA sources with, among other things: (1) a schematic of the vessel to be used to transport the weapons; (2) specifications for the SAMs he agreed to sell to the FARC; and (3) bank accounts in Spain and Lebanon which ultimately were used to receive and conceal more than $400,000 sent from DEA undercover accounts that the DEA sources represented were FARC drug proceeds for the weapons deal. During his meetings with the DEA sources, Al Kassar reviewed Nicaraguan end-user certificates and accepted them despite knowing that the arms were destined for the FARC in Colombia. Al Kassar also promised to provide the FARC with ton-level quantities of C-4 explosives, as well as expert trainers to teach the FARC how to effectively use C-4 and other explosive devices against the United States. In addition, Al Kassar offered to send a thousand men to fight with the FARC against U.S. military officers in Colombia, and to make training camps in Al Kassar's country available to the FARC.

In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Judge Rakoff also sentenced both Al Kassar and Moreno Godoy to 5 years supervised release. Al Kassar was also ordered to forfeit all foreign and domestic assets.

This case was the result of cooperation between the DEA, the Spanish National Police, and the Romanian Border Police.

Mr. Dassin praised the investigative work of the DEA, the Spanish National Police, and the Romanian Border Police. Mr. Dassin also thanked the United States Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs and the United States Department of State. He further expressed appreciation to the United States Embassies in Spain and Romania.

Assistant United States Attorneys Boyd M. Johnson III and Brendan R. McGuire are in charge of the prosecution.


SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

Few hours ago 5.5 tons of cocaine seized in a venezuelian ship that came close to spain coast.
Yesterday i think 600 kg of cocaine seized there also.

ETA chief arrested.


Police have arrested Eta's military chief, Spain's government said today, the third key leader of the armed Basque separatist group to be captured in under six months.

Three units of French paramilitary police arrested ETA commander Jurdan Martitegi in a Pyrenees mountain town late on Saturday afternoon, along with suspected ETA guerrilla cell leader Alexander Uriarte, Spain's Interior Ministry said.

In a joint operation, Spanish police arrested five men and one woman on Saturday in Spain's Basque country who are suspected members of Uriarte's cell.

Spanish interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said it was unclear whether Martitegi was Eta's overall leader, but his arrest showed the 40-year-old organisation faced a leadership crisis amid growing divisions on whether to lay down arms.

"Eta's internal organisation isn't going through the best of times," Rubalcaba told a media conference. "Its options are to give up because it decides to, or because we force it to."

Martitegi (28), was carrying a pistol but gave in without a fight, along with his suspected bodyguard and Uriarte, who were also armed.

Police seized three pistols, a stolen car, a small amount of explosives together with bomb making equipment and manuals during the raid in Montauriol, about 10 miles (16 kms) north of the Spanish border near the French city of Perpignan.

"It was a training course before they went into action," said Mr Rubalcaba, noting it was the second time in recent months police had dismantled an Eta cell before it could attack.

Martitegi took over command of Eta in December after French police captured previous military leader, Aitzol Iriondo, also known as Balak.

He had succeeded Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, better known as "Cherokee", who was captured near Spain's border in November.

"The unravelling of Eta is in large part due to the deep knowledge security forces have of its internal structure," Spanish newspaper El Pais said in an editorial on Sunday.

Nearly 2 metres tall, strongly built and known as "the giant", Martitegi is regarded as one of the most dangerous men in Spain and France, where his photo appears on wanted posters in airports and train stations.

He had been on the run since July when Spanish police broke up Eta's main attack unit, known as the "Vizcaya cell", blamed for bombing numerous police stations and government buildings.

Eta is held responsible for the deaths of more than 800 people in its 40-year campaign of shootings and bombings to carve out an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.

Spain's Socialist government ended peace negotiations with ETA after it killed two people in a car bombing at Madrid's Barajas airport in 2006, effectively breaking a ceasefire.

In the past two years, Spanish and French police have arrested around 400 ETA suspects, according to Spain.

Mr Rubalcaba said ETA peace talks attempted by successive Spanish governments were no longer an option.

"The negotiation process is the past, and the past never returns," he said.

Saturday's arrests mark a further blow for Eta after Spain's ruling Socialists won control of the Basque regional government in March, promising to heal wounds left by nationalist extremists and separatist gunmen.

The Socialists ended an unbroken string of governments by Basque nationalists since 1980 and Eta has said it will make incoming Basque Socialist leader Patxi Lopez a principal target.

Polls show the majority of Basques do not want independence from Spain and analysts say Eta guerillas have lost grassroots support, even among hardcore nationalists.

Reuters

http://z14.invisionfree.com/GangstersInc/i...p?showtopic=853

I looked through the forum for the ETA thread an could not find it,thats it i give up

I looked through the forum for the ETA thread an could not find it,thats it i give up

It is no biggie, Don Anything terror related goes to the off topic forum. Even though, I admit, a lot of terror groups are connected to organized crime.

I looked through the forum for the ETA thread an could not find it,thats it i give up

It is no biggie, Don Anything terror related goes to the off topic forum. Even though, I admit, a lot of terror groups are connected to organized crime.

Ah grand David.

In Ireland terror and OC are very much related.

The ETA are working in strong ties with the colombian cartels,the colombian FARC and the ndrangheta.

Bulgarian Gangster Shot Dead Close to Barcelona
Crime | May 23, 2009, Saturday

A Bulgarian gangster named Hristo Vasilev has been shot dead in public in the town of Sant Joan Despi, Barcelona province, in Catalonia, Spain.

The news has been reported by the Bulgarian 24 Chasa Daily, which cites the local newspaper El Periodico.

According to the reports, Vasilev was part of a gang of Eastern Europeans who committed robberies and luxury car thefts in Spain and France.

The gang had committed a number of daring crimes including one occasion in the French city of Orleans where they held a whole family at gunpoint for several hours until the family opened a save.

The gang was eventually busted by the Spanish police but Vasilev managed to get away. According to El Periodico, however, he was shot dead over drugs as he repeatedly stole drug shipments of competing Barcelona gangs.

The murder was committed in public by a motorcyclist who chased Vasilev for several blocks.

Hristo Vasilev had been living in Spain for years, and even had Spanish citizenship. He had arrested a number of times for various crimes.

At the time he was shot, Vasilev had no ID and was identified through a DNA analysis.

Interesting blog!

Friday, 25 April 2008
Spanish police arrests "El Nene" one of the most wanted hashish drug traffickers in the world
http://costaconfidential.blogspot.com/sear...occan%20citizen

Spanish Police Bust Bulgarian Drug Gangster
Crime | May 28, 2009, Thursday

Spain's police have captured four members of an international drug trafficking gang, including its Bulgarian leader.

The police operation in Madrid discovered 10 kg of heroin with the gang, which is the largest quantity of heroin captured in Spain this year, the EFE agency reported.

The drug gang and its Bulgarian leader had a whole criminal network in Spain, and had direct contacts with heroin providers from Bulgaria. Its job was to organize its distribution in Madrid.

Mafia tentacles reach into Spain
Euro Weekly, June 8, 2011

SPAIN has more mafia members than any other country except Italy, police say. And it is from Spain that the Neapolitan Camorra, the Calabrian N’drangueta and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra control the distribution of Colombian and Venezuelan cocaine in Italy and Europe.

In the last 10 years the National Police and Guardia Civil have arrested around 100 people belonging to Italian mafias.

Of these, 34 were capos or high-ranking members and at least 24 leading ‘families’ were identified.

“Germany is where the Italian mafias launder their money and is also a pick-up point for Eastern European arms’ sales. Spain is the operating base for drugs arriving from South America,” explained a Europol liaison officer.

Spain’s climate, its cultural and language similarities and, until recently, its reputation as a construction paradise, have converted Spain into a primary bolt hole for Italian capos.

They are also attracted by Spain’s legal system which does not classify “mafia association” as a crime. Mafiosos principally like to install themselves in Madrid, Cataluña, Levante and, above all, the Costa del Sol (which they allegedly refer to as Costa Nostra).

“The Camorra, N’drangueta and Cosa Nostra have somewhere between 250 and 300 big bosses. Possibly 70 per cent of the members of the first two organisations are hiding in this country.

“The Camorra alone has around 80 families in Italy, and its tentacles reach into Spain,” said the same sources, which considered Cosa Nostra to be less active here.

Mafia money is invested in hotels, restaurants, discotheques and property, despite the drop in the building sector.

“They launder money through these apparently legitimate concerns. But their real business remains cocaine and hashish,” Guardia Civil sources maintained.

Spain Warns of Infiltration by Colombian Mafia
By Tim Hinchliffe, Colombia Reports
Monday, November 28, 2011

Spain's National Intelligence Center (CNI) announced on Monday that criminal organizations from Colombia have infiltrated the country, posing security threats to the state.

The head of the Spanish intelligence services, who could not be identified, said during a debate on organized crime that Colombian criminal gangs in Spain focused exclusively on drug trafficking. They operate mainly in small groups, making them highly flexible and adaptable, according to newspaper El Espectador.

The CNI head said while the presence of international organized crime networks in Spain was higher than desirable, it was average compared to neighboring European countries. However, prevention strategies and police intelligence have not grown in recent years.

Other criminal organizations plaguing Spain originate from Italy, China and former Soviet Union countries.

Spain breaks up gang smuggling Iranians to UK
BBC News, April 24, 2012

Spanish police have broken up a gang trying to smuggle Iranian migrants into Britain via the Canary Islands, arresting 22 people.

The migrants, charged up to 20,000 euros (£16,300) for the journey, were transported by air or overland by lorry and in luggage compartments of buses.

Once in the Canaries, usually the islands of Tenerife or Fuerteventura, they would fly to Britain, police said.

Fake passports were found at the home of the alleged ringleader, they added.

The Spanish authorities launched their investigation in February, with the arrest of a suspect attempting to board a flight from Tenerife to the UK with forged identification, reports say. The UK Border Agency was also involved in the case.

Thirteen people are said to have been arrested in Tenerife, three in Fuerteventura and six in Madrid.

While many gang members, including the alleged leader, were based in Spain, others were reportedly scattered abroad in Iran, Greece, Switzerland and Germany.

Spanish police said the smugglers had referred to the migrants as cattle or sheep and instructed them how they should act on arrival in Britain. Discounts were given for children while those aged under two were said to have been allowed free passage.

Spanish police thwart Mexican cartel attempting to set up in Europe

Spanish police, working closely with the FBI, have smashed an attempt by Mexico's biggest drugs cartel to set-up in Europe.

The plan to move-in on the lucrative European cocaine market, especially in Britain, was thwarted in an operation code-named Dark Waters, launched by Spain's National Police counter drugs and organised crime unit and the FBI office in Boston more than three years ago, it was revealed on Friday.

The National Police went public following the arrest of four top members of the Sinaloa cartel – considered to be the world's biggest criminal organisation – including a cousin of the gang's leader, Joaquin Guzman, known as "El Chapo", the most wanted drug dealer in the world.

The four were arrested earlier this month in the centre of Madrid following the seizure of 373 kilograms of cocaine, worth nearly £15.7 million at street level, stashed in a container which arrived the southern Spanish port of Algeciras, across the bay from Gibraltar, at the end of July.

Those held in Madrid were named as Jesus Gutiérrez Guzman, a cousin of El Chapo, who was allegedly going to head the cartel's new European operations, Samuel Zazueta Velenzuela, Humberto Celaya Velenzuela and Jesus Gonzalo Palazuelos Soto.

Raid's on their luxury hotel rooms led to the seizure of $5,500, 3,000 euros and 4,000 Mexican pesos in cash, and a wealth of documents still being analysed, said a National Police statement.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...-in-Europe.html

Italy and Spain lead counter-drug operation in the Ocean

17 AUG 2012

(AGI) Rome - Three tons of very pure cocaine coming from South America have been seized in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean during an operation jointly led by Italy's Guardia di finanza and Spain's Cuerpo nacional de Policia.

The drug was due to land on Galicia's coasts to be then distributed throughout Europe. Thirty-one drug traffickers have been arrested.

http://www.agi.it/english-version/italy/el...on_in_the_ocean