Blind eye to the use of drugs in some bars in Ronda

A Guardis Civil Officer in Ronda , named as Rosendo S. has been ordered to prison without bail in connection with police corruption in the town.The Insrtuction Judge 3 In Ronda ordered him to prison and the officer will now been transfered to the Sevilla II prison.The Chargers against the officer include trafficking in documents such as passports, and of turning a blind eye to the use of drugs in some bars in Ronda in exchange for favours which amounts...

40,000 € to two National Police Officers

40,000 € to two National Police OfficersIt came to light in a police report on Tuesday and says that two National police officers received payments from Roca.Reports say that Roca made six payments between May 2004 and December 2005 – a total of 31,000 € to Bernadino R.M and one...

We have sources who tip us off -2 thousand cannabis plants

2 thousand cannabis plants have been seized following drug raids on plastic greenhouses (invernaderos). Police found 664 plants during a raid on an invernadero, which are normally used to grow fruit and vegetables for northern Europe, near Albuñol . The plastic drugs bust followed a raid on a greenhouse nearby, when civil guards found 560 plants.In total, four marijuana factories on the Granada coast have been found under plastic since the middle...

Hashish trafficking

Hashish trafficking: The EU estimates that, at £2bn a year, hashish is unofficially both Morocco's main foreign-currency source and a major contributor to its gross domestic product. Drug trafficking from Morocco (estimated at $12.5 billion) has been identified as the major source...

Prince of Marbella Atalaya del Río Verde,With enough money, you can buy all the respect you need

Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that the cabinet could make the final decision on the extradition of the Syrian alleged arms dealer before the New Year.The police in Spain believe that the extradition of the Syrian millionaire alleged arms dealer, Monzer Al Kassar, to the United...

New DigiTax comes into force early in the New Year

Digitax is to be imposed to protect intellectual property rights and compensate for work copied for private use.Under the tax, which has taken over a year to thrash out and could come into force early in the New Year, external hard drives will see an extra 12 euros added to their...

Costa Connection

The first large property investors on the Costa - the sun-and-sangria bolt-hole where British criminals used to live openly without fear of extradition - he owned a villa called El Limonar at Benalmadena, two flats on the Marbella golden mile and a small townhouse at Mijas. £6 million,...

Fernando del Valle honoured

The Chilean-born lawyer, Fernando del Valle, who is considered by police to be the mastermind behind the ‘Ballena Blanca’ scam, has been honoured by his colleagues in the Málaga College of Lawyers. Málaga lawyers presented him with a medal and diploma to mark his 25-years of service...

Costa del Sol racecourse

Throughout the year racing fans can enjoy the weekly horse races at Mijas Costa. From October to May on Sunday mornings from 10.30h. From June to September in the cooler evening temperatures on Saturday from 23.00h. Racing lasts around three hours.The racecourse attracts punters...

Billboards without authorisation

300 advertising billboards without authorisation in the municipality of Marbella, the majority of them on privately owned land and around a hundred on public land. In the case of the former, explained the councillor, the details of the installers must be handed in at the Town Hall...

Home Invasion the Christmas buzzword

Home invaders in Spain understand the isolation poor infrastructure and lack of police presence they also know know that they won't have to overcome alarm systems when the home is occupied or be worried about video cameras and silent alarms. Unlike robbing a retail store, home invaders...

Homejacking hits Christmas on the Costas

Homejacking is on the rise.This is the residential form of an automobile carjacking and it's on the rise. Like the crime of carjacking, most police agencies don’t track home invasions as a separate crime. Home invasion robbers work more often at night and on weekends when homes are...

loans were taken out for car purchase, and were based on false documentation relating to income and employment. The loan repayments were never made.

The National Police Fraud Squad in Málaga has broken up an organised group of criminals who are believed to have defrauded more than 150,000 € by taking out fraudulent bank loans.The gang used false documentation to take out loans for car purchase but never made the repayments.Twelve...

Homejacking Christmas Threat to Costa Security

The act of committing a homejacking is escalating much like carjacking. The reason for the increase seems to follow a similar pattern. Much like automobiles, the traditional commercial targets for robbers like convenience stores and fast-food restaurants have hardened themselves...

Julián Muñoz

ex-mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz will be released from jail later today after posting bail of €50,000 euros corresponding to charges outside the 'Malaya' investigation into property development related corruption, referring, instead, to a money-laundering investigation as a result...

Costa home invaders the new threat to expat security

Spanish Home invaders know that they won't have to overcome alarm systems when the home is occupied or be worried about video cameras and silent alarms. Unlike robbing a retail store, home invaders expect privacy once inside your home and won’t have to deal with the police suddenly...

Sniper Films Morrocan Police Corruption

The Sniper chose the anonymity of the Internet to expose his evidence for fear of reprisals by local authorities.The independent Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH) criticised police for hunting him, saying that an unspecified number of youths from Sniper's home village, Tarjist, were arrested by police seeking his identity and whereabouts.To his surprise, the video has drawn tens of thousands of viewers around the world and made him a hero...

The entire development is “illegal, but built with the consent of the authorities.”

Man absolved after adding extension and pool to illegal home on proposed World Heritage siteJUDGES in Córdoba have acquitted the owner of one of the 240 illegal homes on the protected Medina Azahara site for extending the property even though it faces demolition.The defendant, who built a swimming pool and an extra room at his house at the Las Pitas development, was facing two years imprisonment as well as a 3,240 euro fine.Even though the entire...

Moroccan mafia

Moroccan mafia dedicate themselves to the task of introducing illegal immigrants of all nationalities into the European Union. These immigrants traverse the Straits of Gibraltar in fishing boats from the south of Spain or in small wooden boats whose disadvantage is that they are...

Costa del Sol arms trafficking

International arms trafficking groups are the oldest international criminal groups in Spain. They are principally Arabs, who have a long history in the Costa del Sol region, from which they manage their business throughout the world. In their wake many other crime organisation have...

2,000 homes could face demolition in the resort.

It is apparent this is no tourist promotional video for the Levante resort, but a stinging indictment of a construction policy that has seen 100,000 new homes built in the town in recent years – many of which stand empty.However, under the government’s draft of intent to rid the coast of homes built illegally after the Coast Law of 1988, around 2,000 homes could face demolition in the resort.More than 6,000 viewers have seen this video since it was...

seaside resort cities of Lloret de Mar and Benidorm

agents identified several websites in the U-S that allowed access to child pornography files in exchange for payments of between $70 and $95. The trail led to the seaside resort cities of Lloret de Mar and Benidorm where police detected, then arrested, four Russian nationals. Subsequent probes then led to the arrest of 59 people during the past 10 da...

The Bank of Spain has voiced concerns

The Bank of Spain has voiced concerns over the high levels of debt in the housing and construction sector. “It’s a cause for concern that requires the vigilance of management, experts and institutions,” says the bank’s director of research José Luis Malo de Molina.According to Malo...

Marbella appear to have started fining buyers for under-declaring

the property market in Marbella has been in the doldrums for a number of years. As a result market prices are back where they were 3 or more years ago, even if official figures suggest that prices have been steadily rising, albeit at a lower rate than before. Official figures are notoriously unreliable, and everyone knows that they overstate prices. The scandal is that tax officials in Marbella appear to have started fining buyers for under-declaring...

The British Consul in Malaga, Bruce McIntyre

The British Consul in Malaga, Bruce McIntyre, recently revealed his office now spends much of its time trying to help old and lonely expatriots who can no longer cope. “Sometimes people have made bad property investments or have not budgeted their pensions and are living in extreme poverty.” With the University of Barcelona warning that the price of the average home in Spain is set to fall 20% between 2007 and 2009, it seems more and more people...

cocaine addiction has surpassed the number of heroin addicts in Granada

During this year, the number of people being treated for cocaine addiction has surpassed the number of heroin addicts in Granada for the first time. During 2006, 2,000 people passed through the treatment centres of the CPD, 20 per cent of whom were addicted to cocaine and 26 per cent to heroin. So far this year, 24 per cent have been treated by the centre for cocaine addiction and 19.8 per cent have been treated for heroin addiction. The report also...

shattered, the dreams of many Britons have been left in ruins

shattered, the dreams of many Britons have been left in ruins after they were forced to wait four years for their promised home in the sun.Some also fear they have lost their 23,000-euro deposits placed on property in the Zoco complex in the hamlet of El Golco in la Alpujarra.Agents...

Princes William and Harry Finca La Garganta, near the village of Conquista

Princes William and Harry have become occasional visitors at Finca La Garganta, near the village of Conquista, on the border with Castilla La Mancha.Under the guise of hunting – the estate is literally teeming with wildlife including wild boar, stag and partridge – the young princes...

housing starts since August are down 40 percent

Spanish property companies are coming to terms with the end of a massive boom, with housing starts well down on last year as sales fall and credit tightens.Pedro Pérez, the secretary general of the so-called G-14 lobby, which groups together the 13 biggest real-estate companies in Spain, told reporters yesterday that housing starts since August are down 40 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.On top of falling sales, the sector is...

world's longest cable car line in the Sierra Nevada

Environmental authorities on Wednesday quashed plans to build the world's longest cable car line in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, arguing the project would have a devastating impact on fragile local ecosystems. The ruling by the Andalusian environment department was applauded by conservationists who had campaigned to block the construction of the 19-kilometre line that was to have linked the city of Granada with Sierra Nevada. The department...

Mr Roca's rise to riches began in 1991

Once an unemployed builder, Mr Roca allegedly gave the former mayor Marisol Yague [euro]1.3m ([pound]800,000) in bribes, slipped to her in plain envelopes, funding a facelift and home improvements costing [euro]950,000. The deputy mayor, Isabel Marcos, had [euro]360,000 in cash at...

Marbella town hall approved a thousand building licences

Marbella town hall approved a thousand building licences in recent years and that, out of 80,000 homes in the resort, only 50,000 have been declared properly legal.Town hall councillors were accused of failing to review the majority of licences given since 1998 and continuing to give "illegal licences". Most of these were awarded in the 1990s when Marbella was run by the populist mayor and property developer Jesús Gil, who was later imprisoned when...

Charlie Wilson,s alleged killer resurfaces AKA Willy Douglas, Terence Tompkins, William Baird McDonald,Willy Grant,(Update)

Great Train Robber, Charlie Wilson, 57,was shot dead along with his dog by a man on a motorbike, on the doorstep of his Villa in Marbella in 1990. , initiating a gangland feud.Wilson’s wife, Pat, witnessed the murder and said Grant was the gunmanThe gunman was never caught, but...

Prince of Marbella Kassar's home is in the upscale town of Marbella

Kassar's home is in the upscale town of Marbella, on Spain's southern Mediterranean coast. His home was cordoned off by police, who were searching for evidence there.Kassar, who has Spanish residency status, was taken to the National Court in central Madrid, which handles cases of...

Wi-fi is on the way to Marbella

Wi-fi is on the way to Marbella. The Town Hall has said that they are to set up wireless internet access in the public areas across the municipality in the next two mont...

Richard Neil

has become the 6th fatality to die as a consequence of the settling of scores in Málaga province this year. The first of them was last August at The Point bar, when a 38 year old Estonian was shot dead with a single shot to the head.Two weeks later the burnt out body of a man was found in a car in Estepona. He had also been shot. And on September 11th three Colombians were killed in the Torreblanca del Sol Urbanisation in Fuengirola, in the settling...

secret mass graves

The Spanish government and judges might be instructed to cooperate in the investigation of scores of secret mass graves dating from the civil war (1936-39) and its aftermath. They may be forced to begin opening such graves and to identify the corpses lying within.The graves are dotted...

Puente Romano and the Marbella Club

The judge investigating the Hidalgo money laundering case in Marbella, Manuel Martin Hernandez-Carrillo, interrogated three people connected with the hotel group that owns the Puente Romano and the Marbella Club last week. One of them is said to be the director of one of the hotels....

30.000 dwellings

30.000 dwellings in the municipality which either have been built or are in the process of being built with illegally issued building licences. Basically, these were given in spite of the fact that they violated the 1986 Town Planning Regulation in force at present. The violations range from constructing houses on land not designated for building, for example in green belts or on land set aside for public facilities, to granting licenses in spite...

Aki Johannes Kujala

Aki Johannes Kujala, suspect in involvement in the White Whale case, when he declared his annual income at only 50,000 euros, while living a life of luxury and expensive style. The 41-year-old Finn, a resident on the Costa del Sol, had already been investigated by the police for...

paid money to Judge Francisco Javier de Urquía

The Andalucian High Court of Justice, TSJA, has said that ‘there is absolutely no doubt’ that Juan Antonio Roca, the ex municipal real estate assessor in Marbella Town Hall, paid money to Judge Francisco Javier de Urquía. The instruction judge in the Andalucian High Court, Miguel Pasqau, has thus ordered that the case proceed to a full hearing on the charges of perversion of the course of justice and bribery.Charged are the judge, Francisco Javier...

shot in the centre of Marbella

A foreigner has died overnight after being shot in the centre of Marbella by two people who managed to make their escape from the scene.EFE news agency quotes police sources who say it happened at 10pm close to Calle Camilo José Cela and that the two people who carried out the attack passed on a moped.The victim is reported to have been shot several times in the ba...

remains are said to be of a white man in his forties

The Civil Guard are coming closer to solving the mystery of a chopped up body which was found buried in plastic bags in a field in Ceutí on Saturday, and have now, according to a report in La Verdad newspaper on Tuesday, managed to lift fingerprints off the mummified remains. The remains are said to be of a white man in his forties, who was murdered elsewhere before his body was chopped up and buried at a depth of one metre.There is also evidence...

Lorcrimar Hotel

The Andalucian Supreme Court of Justice has ordered Marbella Town Hall to revise the licence given for the Lorcrimar Hotel in town by Julián Muñoz in 2003, against the planning legislation.The court is in agreement with the Junta de Andalucía which says that the Town Hall has the...

Ghosts of the 80s

A trawler fishing off the coast of Altea brought up a rather unexpected catch in its nets on Wednesday: a human skull, and bones from the thorax, which were brought up from a depth of between 60 and 70 metres. The find has been handed over to the Civil Guard, who have started an investigation to try and identify the remains.The President of the local Fishermen’s Guild, Antonio Lloret, spoke to the EFE news agency of an opening which could be seen...

Marbella Club

The hotel's address Marbella Club, located in this town Malaga, yesterday sent a message of reassurance to the workers of the establishment, dissociate themselves from the records in connection with the transaction Hidalgo against money laundering, and rejecting any involvement with...

Mauritius Pardo, Joaquín Crespo and Amelia Berjillos

names of the detainees include three notaries in exercise: Mauritius Pardo, Joaquín Crespo and Amelia Berjillos. The last two names already appeared related to the transaction White Whale, also against money laundering, as informed sources in the investigation. However, the investigations are still under way into the hands of the magistrate number two in Marbella, As part of the investigation, were carried out searches in Marbella, including the...

Cruz Conde

Nineteen of the twenty-one arrested in the operation known as "Hidalgo" against money laundering centered in Marbella still in police custody while awaiting that are brought to justice. Police sources Efe reported today that although initially twenty-one persons were arrested, two...

worldwide money laundering

National Police officers on the Costa del Sol have arrested a lawyer and an Israeli administrator in connection to the "White Whale" money laundering investigation. Both men have been linked to the DV Law Firm managed by Fernando del Valle in Marbella which is alleged to have been the hub of a worldwide money laundering operation believed to have handled sums of up to €250 million on behalf of Eastern European mafia grou...

Harvey Jeffrey

A British man, Harvey Jeffrey L, arrested last Saturday as part of the "White Whale" money laundering investigation, has been jailed by judge Miguel Angel Torres after an appearance this afternoon at Marbella municipal court. His wife, who was also arrested at the weekend, was allowed to go and no charges were brought against her. Both are suspected of swindling fellow Brits out of hundreds of thousands of euros since setting up a business at the...

Fernando del Valle

sum of 600,000 euros has been demanded in return for the temporary freedom of Fernando del Valle in the Marbella money-laundering case which occurred last March. The family of the Chilean-born lawyer, accused of being the mastermind behind the 250 million euro fraud, are now attempting...

two performers had live sex on a stage in front of dignitaries

A comic fair in Spain erupted into scandal after two performers had live sex on a stage in front of dignitaries, according to reports. Local authorities in the southern Spanish town of Granada threatened to withdraw funding from the International Comic Fair, reports the Guardian and El Pais newspapers. Organisers "decided to enliven an awards ceremony" for comic books last Friday, reports the Guardian, by paying two actors to have sex on stage. During...

two performers had live sex on a stage in front of dignitaries

A comic fair in Spain erupted into scandal after two performers had live sex on a stage in front of dignitaries, according to reports. Local authorities in the southern Spanish town of Granada threatened to withdraw funding from the International Comic Fair, reports the Guardian and El Pais newspapers. Organisers "decided to enliven an awards ceremony" for comic books last Friday, reports the Guardian, by paying two actors to have sex on stage. During...

Ken Macintyre, 64, was with a friend when they were attacked

Ken Macintyre, 64, was with a friend when they were attacked and robbed near Domino bar in the Spanish holiday resort in the early hours of Saturday morning.A spokesperson for the Foreign Office confirmed: "A man was attacked in an old part of the resort of Benidorm. However, we...

Spain is going to be bigger than Jamaica or Holland as a cannabis growing

"The Spanish sun is free, and the climate in some parts of the country is good for growing cannabis 10 months a year, but we see indoor growing as superior because it offers a controlled environment, and avoids the possibility of rip-offs and problems with insects and lack of water,"...

home of Antonio Banderas

The home of Antonio Banderas in Marbella will have to be demolished because it has been judged to be illeg...

The brains of the operation Malaya, Juan Antonio Roca

The brains of the operation Malaya, Juan Antonio Roca, the public prosecutor requested a sentence of 10 years in prison for money laundering, false documents, illegal possession of weapons, trafficking of influences and crimes against regional planning.The Judge said... Óscar Pérez,...

"We rented a private plane to eat cus-cus in

"We spend four million pesetas in a birthday" "We rented a private plane to eat cus-cus in Marruecos ” Morocco " "The least we always had at home were one hundred million pesetas" "Julian Munoz has properties in Madrid Barcelona and Seville, and nothing is in your name, just...

Isabel PANTOJA MARTIN, born on 07 August 1956 in Seville (Seville), the son of John and Mary, owner of the National Identity Document number 28515553

Brief summary: Isabel PANTOJA MARTIN, born on 07 August 1956 in Seville (Seville), the son of John and Mary, owner of the National Identity Document number 28515553-S. En Málaga, siendo las 00:05 horas, del día 3 de Mayo de 2007 y en cumplimiento de lo dispuesto en el artículo 520...

Judge Torres just locate in Switzerland a chest Security 2 million Swiss francs

Judge Torres just locate in Switzerland a chest Security 2 million Swiss francs (1.2 million euros) was in the name of one of the presumed front of Rock. Francisco Antonio Soriano Pastor, abogado de Roca encarcelado e imputado por el caso Malaya, al salir de Alhaurín viajó hasta...

Judah Binstock has returned to Marbella.

Judah Binstock has returned to Marbella. Muñoz. Just after closing the investigation of Malaya and go to Grenada Judge Torres, the multimillionaire Jewish reappeared, owner of the majority of land in the municipality and alleged sponsor of the motion of censure against Julian Munoz. He did so in a wheelchair and surrounded by his "gorilla" at a gala dinner and without his wife Josie, who dared to speak a few days ago to journalists of "Tomato",...

Judah Binstock connection to corruption in Marbella

An address book with telephone Montaner, Judah Binstock Aki Kuj wing and Raneapino Among the documents seized Juan Antonio Roca following his arrest in April 2003, shortly before entering custody and work in the summary of the case soqueol, provides a comprehensive phone book, with names of relevant world politics, entertainment and urban businesses. The name "Judah", in allusion to British tycoon of Jewish origin Judah Binstock, is repeated several...

Insider View translated from the Spanish

Marbella, a beach resort for the "jet set" now emerging as the hub for every mafia connection in Spain. Finally, there is a Swiss connection in the form of the Cultrera-Meninno scandal, which only leads back to Marbella, a beach resort for the "jet set" now emerging as the hub for...

The Prince of Marbella, Monzer Al Kassar arrested this morning at the airport in Madrid was taken at 10.30 hours

The National Police announced Friday the arrest in Madrid of Syrian arms dealer Monzer Al Kassar by several charges related to terrorism issued by an American court. Al Kassar is sought on charges of conspiracy to provide support and material resources to a terrorist organization,...

Gil's town plans had not been approved by the Junta de Andalucia

The Marbella Land Registry gives information on ownership of the Land, but not on its planning. It can detail the house that is built as being physically there, but and that it has licences. It is stated that the registry givew the information supplied to it, but it is not a guarantee...

Spanish singer Isabel Pantoja has described herself as a victim linked to the Malaya corruption case. For the past three years she has been in a relationship with Julián Muñoz, who was Mayor of Marbella at the time they got together. Speaking in a statement sent to Antena Tres television,...

The Andalucian Ombudsman

The Andalucian Ombudsman, José Chamizo, has also supported the demolition of 334 homes in a total of seven developments in Marbella whose licences were annulled by the Andalucian Supreme Court. He said that what justice ordered had to be carried out, however lamentable it was for the owners of the buildings. He said each owner should be looked at on an individual basis to see if they had been tricked into making the purchase, adding that the judiciary...

affect expatriates who are used to buying drugs in Spain

The New law, which in some areas has been brought into force early, will affect expatriates who are used to buying drugs in Spain rather than having to face a Spanish speaking doctor. Many doctors in Spain insist on translators who can charge more than a private doctor.The legislation is to prevent the over use of medicines and health products, guard against inappropriate use, monitor and control given medical prescriptionsIt is hoped that greater...