Police UDYCO anti-drugs and organised crime chiefs who were arrested on Tuesday accused of corruption, were ordered to prison

Minister for the Interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, on Thursday asked for respect for the four arrested police chiefs, reminding his audience about the presumption of innocence.Two of the four National Police UDYCO anti-drugs and organised crime chiefs who were arrested on Tuesday accused of corruption, were ordered to prison without bail on Friday evening. They are the UDYCO chief from Marbella, C.F. and the chief inspector from Málaga, J.A.M. Instruction judge number 5 in Marbella, Julián Cabrero, also granted bail with charges remaining for the other policemen. A translator at the National Police station in Marbella was granted bail and the director of the Marbella Clinic, which is also linked to the case, was also granted bail of 30,000 €. They are charged following a Police Internal Affairs investigation which began two years ago into alleged misappropriation of items seized in the course of police operations from mafia-type criminal gangs. The men spent all of Friday in the court building in Marbella, finally leaving with heads covered around 6pm.



Meanwhile unions have criticised what they describes as the ‘systematic ill-treatment’ of the arrested policemen. They accuse the man who is the assistant operations director, Fernández Chico, of not respecting the presumption of innocence, and they have called for his resignation. They also say the men were given no food or water for a 24 hour period.

Spanish T.V. reporting the Mari Luz Cortés case say she was suffocated to death, and then thrown into the water afterwards.

Spanish T.V. reports Telecinco has revealed what it calls the definitive results of the autopsy carried out on the body of the five year old
There has been new information in the Mari Luz Cortés case, the five year old girl from Huelva whose body was found in Ria de Huelva a week ago.Telecinco is reporting that the definitive results of the autopsy carried out on the child, which they say has proved that she was suffocated to death, and then thrown into the water afterwards. The autopsy concludes that the child died in the following 24 hours of her disappearance, and that the injuries to her head and ribs were also carried out before she died.The child’s father, Juan José Cortés, has called for time to ‘cry in silence’ and says that he will fight to find who is responsible and to see them pay for what they have done.Police say they think a local person may have seen Mari Luz with her killer, but is too frightened to come forward.

British girl arrested for drug trafficking in Morocco

British girl was arrested on Wednesday while trying to sail from the Tangiers Port (northern Morocco) for Algésiras (southern Spain) with 10 kg of chira (cannabis resine).The drug was found in a cache set up in the front of a Spanish-registered four wheel drive vehicle, a Moroccan security source said without disclosing the identity of the British national.Some 70% of the processed kif (cannabis) in Europe comes from Morocco.

Deputy Mayor of Palma spent 45,000 euros in gay clubs using a Town Hall credit card

Baleares newspaper claims he spent 45,000 euros in gay clubs at the time he was Deputy Mayor of Palma
The prosecution service on the Balearic Islands has placed an official complaint with the courts against a former Partido Popular councillor in Palma for allegedly spending public money in alternative nightclubs. The Baleares newspaper Última Hora claims that Javier Rodrigo de Santos spent 45,000 € in gay clubs using a Town Hall credit card between the end of 2005 and the end of May last year. The newspaper said police have already spoken to staff at the clubs in question, who said the ex councillor was a regular customer.
The action from the prosecution service comes after a complaint from the Socialist Mayor of Palma, Aina Calvo, and an informative investigation then followed, starting on 20th February. Catalina Cirer, who was Partido Popular Mayor of Palma at the time in question, said in a press conference on Thursday that she totally condemns the alleged misappropriation of public funds and said she felt ‘deceived’ by her party colleague. She said she only had only heard about it herself on Thursday morning, in the media.Javier Rodrigo de Santos was Deputy Mayor of Palma at the period under investigation, and also had responsibility for town planning. He is now a civil servant and works at the Town Hall in the tax department

Alfredo M., who is responsible for the organised crime section of the Udyco unit across the Costa del Sol.is awaiting trial in two other cases

four top police officers arrested in Málaga on Tuesday have been questioned by National Police internal affairs on allegations of corruption and all say they are innocent. They are expected to be called before an Instruction Court on Friday, along with the two other suspects arrested in the case, a police interpreter and the director of a Marbella clinic.They are charged in a Police Internal Affairs investigation which began two years ago into alleged misappropriation of items seized in the course of police operations from mafia-type criminal gangs. El Mundo newspaper reported on Thursday that one of the officers in custody is Alfredo M., who is responsible for the organised crime section of the Udyco unit across the Costa del Sol. Udyco investigates offences involving organised crime and drugs, and two of those in custody head the Udyco branches in Marbella and Fuengirola. The fourth suspect is an assistant to Alfredo M., the paper said.El Mundo quotes sources in the police saying that Alfredo M.is awaiting trial in two other cases. One of them involves the previous head of the Udyco unit on the Costa del Sol, Valentín Bahut, where they both allegedly supplied an Italian drug dealer based in Benalmádena with confidential information from police records to allow him to escape arrest under a European warrant for extradition.The crimes under investigation in this latest case are revealing secret information, illegal searches and misappropriation.

Equatorial Guinean opposition leader Severo Moto to retain the status of a political refugee

Spain's Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Equatorial Guinean opposition leader Severo Moto to retain the status of a political refugee despite his implication in coup attempts against the regime of President Teodoro Obiang. The court revoked a 2006 decision by the Spanish government to lift the status of a political refugee that Moto had enjoyed in Spain since 1986. Had the court not agreed with Moto's appeal against the decision, the politician, who claims to be under persecution by the Obiang regime, would have had to leave Spain. Moto is one of the top opposition politicians in Equatorial Guinea, a Spanish-speaking, oil-rich Central African country of around half a million residents.

Spanish police have detained four police officers

Spanish police have detained four police officers, including three chiefs responsible for fighting organised crime, on charges of several criminal offences, police said Wednesday. The four worked on the southern Costa del Sol coast, which is known for the presence of numerous international criminal rings. The three chiefs were based in Malaga, Marbella and Fuengirola. The officers were suspected of keeping objects they had confiscated from criminals, making illegal house searches and revealing confidential information to outsiders. One of them was already awaiting trial on charges of helping an Italian drug trafficker flee. An entrepreneur and an interpreter were also held. The affair was "painful and delicate," because it affected the reputation of the national police force, government delegate Hilario Lopez Luna said. Senior official Antonio Camacho stressed that police themselves had discovered the alleged irregularities in their midst.

Spanish police have arrested six Chinese citizens in the country's biggest operation

Spanish police have arrested six Chinese citizens in the country's biggest operation against DVD and CD piracy so far, police said Wednesday. The ring was capable of producing 80,000 pirate copies of CDs and DVDs and of earning EUR 240,000 daily.
Police discovered a clandestine production site and three warehouses in the Madrid region. Police have carried out about 20 major operations against audiovisual piracy over the past five years.

U.K. supply of high speed, radar-evading boats to smugglers operating between North Africa and Spain

Accused of taking over the role of a Lowestoft couple in supplying boats to drug smugglers 0n the Spanish Costas went to the same business to purchase the hulls, a court has heard.
Ian Rush, 43, is on trial at Ipswich Crown Court where HM Revenue and Customs has alleged he was instrumental in setting up a company to continue the work of Lowestoft-based Crompton Marine when its owners were arrested.
Yesterday the court was told by David Gooch that he had supplied, without being aware of the eventual owners of the boats, hulls to Crompton Marine, but when owners Richard Davison and Ellen George were arrested he was left with a number in stock.
Mr Gooch said Rush's company, Nautexco Marine, contacted him and arranged to purchase the hulls.
The prosecution allege that Rush, of Brand End Road, Butterwick, Lincolnshire, had set up Nautexco with the aim of continuing the supply of high speed, radar-evading boats to smugglers operating between North Africa and Spain.
Davison and George were detained in March 2004 as part of a joint investigation by British and Spanish customs officials into suspected money laundering offences.
At the couple's home in Colville Road, Lowestoft, £1.25m in cash was found. Rush has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of drug smuggling and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.
Defence barrister Phillip Hackett said the way that Nautexco Marine and Crompton Marine were managed was very different and was key to proving Rush's innocence.

Mari Luz Cortés neither of the two autopsies has established whether she was murdered or died accidentally.

According to a report in today's ABC, neither of the two autopsies performed on little Mari Luz Cortés, the five year old girl whose body was discovered in an estuary near Huelva last Friday has established whether she was murdered or died accidentally. The autopsies did reveal that Mari Luz sustained a broken rib and a head injury, but it appears that neither were responsible for her death and may have been caused post-mortem as a result of the body washing up against rocks. It is clear that the girl died within 48 hours of her disappearance and was neither raped nor strangled, though the condition of the corpse made it impossible for asphyxia to be ruled out. Mari Luz disappeared from near her home in the city's El Torrejón district on the evening of January 13th and was found more than a kilometre away, leading investigators to conclude that it is unlikely that she arrived there unaccompanied on foot, especially given that she would have had to cross a busy main road tio get there. However, there are various ditches and drains that lead directly from the El Torrejón district where Mari Luz lived to the estuary where her body was found.

John and Jenny Harvey are terrified to leave the house in case the bulldozers move in while they are away

The Harveys moved from Hunmanby to the Alpujarra mountains, near the coast of south east Spain, five years ago.John and Jenny Harvey are terrified to leave the house in case the bulldozers move in while they are away.And to make matters worse, a crippling fine of 80,000 euros (£61,000) has been imposed on the couple.
“This has ruined our lives,” said 64-year-old Mr Harvey, a former coalminer and builder. “We have worked so hard for this – if they take away our home they may as well put us six feet under.”They invested their life savings of 200,000 euros (£153,000) to transform some derelict land into a beautiful farm surrounded by olive, almond and orange trees.But the regional government of Andalusia now insists their home is illegal, despite having been given planning permission for their project from the local town hall in Lanjarón, which is about 30 miles from the city of Granada.Mrs Harvey, 58, says she is at a loss to understand what went wrong.
She said: “I worked for 30 years as a legal executive so I didn’t cut any corners with the house. We paid an architect to do everything for us.”The Harveys’ fears were heightened by the demolition of another house owned by British pensioners Len and Helen Prior in January. They were given two hours to remove their furniture and belongings from their home in Vera, Almeria.Spain is cracking down on what officials consider to be illegal builds and corruption after a mass of unregulated house building over the past 10 years – and unwary Brits are paying the price.
A Government spokesman insisted that Spain will continue to demolish illegal constructions.Mr Harvey suffers from a heart condition and both he and his wife have become ill through stress since they heard the demolition was set for February 1.
A one-month delay obtained by their lawyer has now expired.The couple are unable to remortgage or sell the condemned home and they have yet to secure a bond for the £61,000 fine.Now, the distraught couple have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on the advice of Euro MP Michael Cashman.He described similar cases as an “abuse of innocent citizens”.

Officials seized a total of 129kg of hashish destined for Algeciras, Spain

Customs authorities at Tangier port foiled three drug trafficking attempts on Sunday (March 9th) and Monday, MAP reported. Officials seized a total of 129kg of hashish destined for Algeciras, Spain. The largest single shipment of 66kg was found in the vehicle of a Moroccan citizen living in Belgium. Authorities seized some 35 tonnes of hashish in Tangier in 2007, an increase of 26% over 2006. In related news, Algerian press reported that on Monday police discovered more than 15 hectares cultivated with cannabis and opium in Ajdir, Adrar province. Security forces reportedly arrested eight suspects, in part for allegations that some of the farmers involved had benefited from state funds through the land-reclamation programme.

Croatian General Ante Gotovina capture in Spain's Canary Islands

Former Croatian General Ante Gotovina went on trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal on Tuesday charged with driving Serbs from Croatia's Krajina region with a campaign of murder and plunder.Gotovina, who is accused with two other former Croatian generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, was instrumental in planning the retaking of the Krajina which Serbs had claimed in 1991 and cleansed of Croatians, U.N. prosecutors say."This trial arises from the forcible elimination of Krajina Serbs from Croatia and the destruction of their communities in August 1995 and the roles and responsibilities of the generals in that process," prosecutor Alan Tieger told the court.Gotovina's troops murdered at least 37 ethnic Serbs, torched villages and stabbed and burned those trying to flee as part of "Operation Storm", a massive military operation from August until September 1995, according to the indictment.
Although the legality of Croatia's retaking of its territory is not in question, crimes against humanity and war crimes took place during the execution of the operation and in its intention to permanently remove Serbs, the prosecution said.
"The Serb community was a scarred wasteland of destroyed villages and homes. By the end of the first day of the operation Serbs were in panic-stricken flight, not by accident but by design," Tieger said."For those who remained, life became a nightmare.""Operation Storm" meant the end for many Serbs of their lives on their ancestral lands, Tieger added.After he was indicted in 2001, Gotovina evaded arrest by travelling extensively using false identities before his capture in Spain's Canary Islands in December 2005.As the overall commander of the offensive, he knew of the mistreatment of Serbs but failed to prevent the crimes or punish the perpetrators, according to prosecutors.All three accused, who have pleaded not guilty, are charged with participating in a joint criminal enterprise alongside Croatia's late former President Franjo Tudjman that aimed to permanently remove the Serb population.The three sat side by side in court dressed in dark suits. Gotovina, a 52-year-old former French Foreign Legionnaire, was the court's last wanted war crimes suspect from Croatia.His arrest has helped ease Croatia's path to joining the European Union, which has long been sceptical about how hard Zagreb was trying to hunt a man many Croats consider a national hero.His trial is being shown live on Croatian state television.The prosecution blames Gotovina for doing nothing to stop the murder of at least 150 civilians. "Gotovina planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of the deportation and forced displacement of the Serb population," the indictment said. "These crimes included the unlawful killing of Serbs who did not flee, the burning and destruction of Serb villages, and the looting of property. The cumulative effect led to the large-scale displacement of an estimated 150,000-200,000 Serbs."Gotovina remains a hero to Croatian nationalists, who watched the trial live on TV in Croatia yesterday.
Before returning to Croatia as Yugoslavia collapsed, Gotovina had been in Africa as a French legionnaire, and had been convicted in France of robbery, kidnapping and extortion.

Adele Spencer fought off the Moroccan-looking women when they broke into her home and tried to take 18-month old Annabelle from her high-chair

Adele Spencer, 28, has told how she fought off the Moroccan-looking women when they broke into her home and tried to take 18-month old Annabelle from her high-chair.The incident came just three days after another British family in the same town were targeted. Yesterday it was claimed the family of missing Madeleine McCann were keen to find out more about the cases.Miss Spencer said: "If I had been 10 seconds later she would have been gone. I'm just thankful I managed to get to Annabelle in time to save her."I never thought we would come close to suffering the same fate as Madeleine's parents. You read about horrific stories like theirs but you don't expect it to happen to you."The drama happened just after 3pm on Tuesday. The hairdresser was alone with her daughter in her rented home in Moraira, Costa Blanca.She had left Annabelle asleep in her high chair and was hanging up clothes in an adjoining bedroom while her fiancé Carl was at work.
She said: "I thought it was Annabelle wakingup but when I went in to see her two Moroccan-looking women were standing over her, one on either side."They had taken her blanket from her and were about to try to lift Annabelle out of her chair. My legs buckled under me at first and I felt like I was going to be sick with the shock. But suddenly I came round and I just started screaming over and over, 'Get out of my house, get out of my house'.
"They started walking backwards slowly towards the door and the next minute, I threw myself at the older woman. I lunged at her face and throat as I tried to push her out of the house."Spanish police are said to be linking the attempted kidnap to a separate bid to snatch a three-year-old British boy in the same town.
Her fiancé, from Leeds, added: "What has happened to Madeleine is awful and it so nearly happened to us. No other parent should have to go through that suffering."

Five year old Mari Luz Cortés was buried in her home town of Huelva on Monday

Thousands gathered outside the Huelva crematorium on Monday to pay their last respects to the five year old. Amongst them was the entire team of the Recreativo de Huelva football club, where Mari Luz’s father once worked. Also there was the Mayor of Huelva, Pedro Rodríguez, who spoke of his pride of being the Mayor of a city which, ‘once again, has shown their solidarity and generosity’ towards Mari Luz’s family. Rodríguez mentioned two comments made to him by the young girl’s father, Juan José Cortés, which have stuck in his mind: the first, ‘I am not going to die without knowing what has happened to my daughter,’ and the second, EFE said, after she was found, ‘Now I no longer have to look for her.’ Five year old Mari Luz Cortés was buried in her home town of Huelva on Monday, three days after her body was found floating in the Ría de Huelva estuary, and 57 days after she disappeared during a short trip to the local sweets kiosk from her home in the El Torrejón district of the city.The five year old’s body left the crematorium shortly before 2.30 pm and was carried in a silent procession on foot for the half-hour distance to the municipal cemetery where Mari Luz was buried.It’s now been confirmed that two autopsies have taken place on her body, the second was held at the request of the family. There has been no news on any results as yet.Mari Luz’s body was found in the common estuary of the Tinto and Odiel Rivers on Friday afternoon, by an employee at the Cepsa refinery. She was dressed in the same clothes she was wearing when she was last seen, on the afternoon of 13th January this year.