Robbed 1.5 million € from a businessman at the doors of a bank in Alicante.

Five men and two women, all from Argentina, and with criminal records back home, have been arrested for taking 1.5 million € from a businessman at the doors of a bank in Alicante.The police say that the group had been following the businessman for two months and had tried to rob him on another two occasions without success.Finally they took 1.5 million € at gunpoint from the footwear entrepreneur just as he was about to pay in the cash to the bank.National Police spokesman, Blas García, explained that the robbery happened on December 15 in the San Gabriel area of the city. He said the organisers of the gang are a father and son who are very well known in Alicante as a furniture restorer and motorbike mechanic.Others arrested face money laundering charges. Five searches have been carried out and 290,000 € of the money has been recovered and three cars, motorbikes and a firearm have been impounded. It’s thought the group were trying to purchase a property on the beach for 300,000 € but the deal apparently was not completed.

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Eight years and six months for House Jacking Gang in Alicante

Two members of the violent gang this week began jail sentences of eight years and six months each after admitting armed robbery and kidnap in a plea bargain deal.A third was sentenced to a year and a half in prison by a court in Alicante after being convicted as an accomplice.Two men involved in the April 22 2004 kidnap are still on the run.Mr and Mrs Yarwood were playing cards as they relaxed after dinner at their home in Moraira on Spain's southeastern coast when the gang burst in.The couple were threatened with pistols and a knife and told they would be killed unless they paid 600,000 euros - the equivalent of £400,000 at the time of crime. The pair, from Frodsham, Cheshire, were terrorised overnight and the following morning, Mr Yarwood, 72, a retired electrician was driven to the local bank and told to withdraw all the money in his account.But he wrote a note on the back of a cheque begging for help and the bank manager alerted police who called in a specially-trained kidnap response unit.Speaking of their ordeal at the hands of their Romanian and Spanish kidnappers, Mrs Yarwood who ran a guest house in Cheshire for 27 years, said afterwards: "They terrorised us all night, constantly pointing the guns at us and cocking them."When my husband tried to escape out of the back door they punched him in the face and kicked him repeatedly."I was convinced we were going to die.Her husband added: "I was praying the bank would try and help and I wrote a note on the back of a cheque saying, 'Please give me the money because someone has kidnapped my wife."The gang leader kept saying that if he didn't see the money by the following day I would never see Pat again."

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Vall de Gallinera, Alicante growing 130 marihuana plants

27 year old man has been arrested for allegedly growing 130 marihuana plants in Vall de Gallinera, Alicante. He was discovered as he was pruning the plants. The Civil Guard said the weight of the uprooted plants was more than 25 kilos.

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Six kilos of heroin has been taken off the streets of Alicante

Six kilos of heroin has been taken off the streets of Alicante and it is one of the largest drugs hauls.It occured when a North African man was being tailed from Murcia by the police as a suspect , he was stopped and resisted arrest by dangerous driving . The drugs were discovered in his car .The last major drug bust was in 2006 when more than 20 kilos was found on a boat in Alicante . This came in from Turkey via the so called Balkan route . Heroin is now less popular than cocaine and other synthetic drugs .

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crackdown on Costa Blanca crime, the police have arrested 28 alleged members of criminal groups from former Soviet countries

crackdown on Costa Blanca crime, the police have arrested 28 alleged members of criminal groups from former Soviet countries on suspicion of money laundering in what Spanish authorities have called the largest-ever crackdown on international organized crime in Europe.The arrests took place in Benissa, Alicante, Aigues, Orihuela, Altea and Benidorm as well as Malaga and Barcelona. More than 400 Spanish police agents took part in operation Avispa, or "Wasp," a weekend-long sting that culminated in the detention of 28 people whom they allege are members of the "Russian mafia," Police conducted raids in 11 cities along Spain's Mediterranean coast, seizing cars, cash, jewelry, weapons and works of art, the Spanish Interior Ministry announced Monday. In all, police seized 41 homes and businesses and froze 800 bank accounts.Most of those arrested were ethnic Georgians, the ministry said.
Munoz said that 13 of the 22 held Georgian passports, five Russian passports, three Spanish passports and one a German passport. No names were immediately released.They were placed under arrest on suspicion of belonging to illegal organizations, money laundering and fraudulent bankruptcy.The operation was a joint international effort involving police forces from Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, Israel and the United States, the Interior Ministry said in a statement posted on its web site.The raids yielded 42 luxury vehicles, including Bentley, Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar and BMW models. Weapons seized included shotguns and ammunition, brass knuckles, knives and a saber.The money-laundering operations were conducted primarily in the Cataluna, Costa del Sol and Alicante regions of Spain and involved the purchase of property and establishment of fraudulent commercial and financial networks, the Interior Ministry said.As money-laundering fronts, the groups set up restaurants, bars and clubs, which were among the properties seized, the ministry said. Also seized were country villas, city offices and a site to be turned into a housing development, "Los Eucaliptus," consisting of 38 identical homes. Footage of the raids shown on NTV television Monday evening showed one of the suspects handcuffed and in his underwear on the floor of an lavishly decorated living room.
The Spanish Interior Ministry's statement called the operation the "biggest blow to international organized crime in all of Europe to date."Spanish authorities said that 22 of the suspects were notorious crime bosses known as "thieves-in-law."
While the Spanish Interior Ministry talked in terms of the "Russian mafia," this blanket term is commonly used in the West for often-unrelated criminal groups from the territory of the former Soviet Union.
Denis Dechkov, a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Madrid, said Spanish authorities had not provided the embassy with any information about the arrests. "I have no information about how many of them are Russian citizens," he said.
Gregorio Laso-Mostoles, spokesman for the Spanish Embassy in Moscow, also said he did not know how many Russian citizens had been arrested. "At this time, I can say only that the majority of those arrested are of Georgian nationality," he said.
It was unclear whether any of them were facing criminal charges in Russia. Prosecutor General's Office spokeswoman Tatyana Matyunina said she had no information about the arrests and could not comment on possible extradition requests.
Reached by telephone, a spokeswoman for the Spanish Justice Ministry, Julia Gomez, said she expected the suspects to be tried in Spanish courts for the crimes committed on Spanish soil.Andrei Konstantinov, who heads the Agency of Journalistic Investigations in St. Petersburg and has a reputation as the most knowledgeable chronicler of Russia's criminal underworld, said that Russian gangsters began moving to Spain in the mid-1990s to escape the turf wars."Most of them left behind the life of crime and began buying real estate to legitimize the dirty money," Konstantinov said Monday. "But it wasn't just the gangsters. A lot of bureaucrats who earned their money dishonestly also went to Spain."The Spanish police operation was conducted under the auspices of a special anti-corruption commission overseen by the Spanish high court, Audencia Nacional, and appeared to be part of a broad campaign against money laundering and organized crime. Calls to Audencia Nacional went unanswered Monday.
In March, seven people were jailed in southeast Spain on provisional charges related to money laundering, possibly linked to the Yukos oil major.
Reuters quoted a source close to the investigation as saying the suspects may have been siphoning funds from Yukos without the company's knowledge as part of a bigger money-laundering ring.
"These are individuals who, from inside the Russian company, appear to have diverted sums of money ... which then left the country without the knowledge of the company or the tax authorities," Reuters quoted the source as saying.
A week earlier, 33 others had been arrested on Spain's Mediterranean coast on money-laundering charges.Spanish Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido at the time called those money-laundering arrests "the tip of the iceberg" of international organized crime in Spain.

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Freddie Thompson reports suggested that the hood may have been “taken out” in a hit carried out at his hiding place in Alicante.

Dublin's underworld was holding its breath today as it awaits further news of one of its most infamous ex-pats. The gangland thug’s disappearance from Spain’s Costa Blanca had resulted in speculation that Thompson had been assassinated.
“As far as we can establish, Freddie is laughing the whole thing off. It was a ruse he came up with to try and smoke out an informer in his camp,” said one senior garda today. While mystery still surrounds the whereabouts of the 27-year-old, weekend reports of his death were rubbished today by garda sources who say they have no evidence that that mobster has been killed in Spain. Gardai and the Department of Foreign Affairs have both rubbished rumours that Dublin crime boss "Fat" Freddie Thompson is dead.“He hasn’t been answering his mobile but that’s a big jump to say he has been killed,” said a source. The reports suggested that the hood may have been “taken out” in a hit carried out at his hiding place in Alicante. Following persistent rumours in the underworld, gardai looked at the suggestion that the reason Thompson had gone “off the radar” and had not been in contact with friends or family for some time – was because he was already dead.A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that they had also investigated claims after the weekend rumour mill went into over drive. A department source said that contact had been made with their counterparts in Spain, but that no reports of a death of an Irish citizen were recorded. And, although underworld associates insisted that ‘Fat' Freddie was in trouble, without more information gardai cannot act on the claims. His crime associates have indicated that it was ‘out of character' for the south Dublin criminal to completely lose contact with his hoods in Ireland. Leader of one of the feuding Drimnagh/Crumlin gangs, Freddie fled to Spain earlier this month when fears for his safety here intensified. He has been warned several times by gardai about threats to his life. It is believed the mobster is top of a number of ‘hit lists' in the capital, but like his friend Martin ‘the Viper’ Foley, he has managed to survive.
Continued treats to his life, last week's failed assassination attempt on his partner-in-crime and previous Spanish hits on Irish hoods have lead to concern among the Thompson gang. Thompson was in southern Spain in February when one of his close associates, Paddy Doyle, also 27, was shot dead. The investigation into that murder is ongoing but Spanish police have suggested that they strongly suspect that Doyle and Thompson had fallen foul of rival drug traffickers. Thompson travels between Dublin, Spain and Holland. Since the much publicised Dublin gang feud was sparked in 2000 as many as 10 people have lost their lives. Countless others have been targeted. The spread of Irish gangland violence to Spain is not a new development. In 2004 the leaders of the ‘Westies’ gang Stephen Sugg and Shane Coates, were murdered and buried in a secret grave in Alicante.

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Civil Guard is looking for the thieves who broke into the home belonging to their Civil Guard Chief Captain in San Vicente del Raspeig, in Alicante.

Civil Guard is looking for the thieves who broke into the home belonging to their Civil Guard Chief Captain in San Vicente del Raspeig, in Alicante.The chief was asleep with his family in his home in the old Guardia Civil barracks in Babel, where some 20 civil guard families now reside, while the thieves obtained access through a balcony window. The embarrassing theft took place a month ago, but news of it has only just been released. A bag and other items were taken.

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'Fat Freddie' Thompson in Alicante and his lieutenant who shot Foley is in Malaga

'Fat Freddie' Thompson and two of his key associates have fled to Spain in fear of their lives.The trio, including the gangland figure reported to have shot Martin 'Viper' Foley, left the country at the weekend.
Thompson is thought to be in Alicante and his lieutenant who shot Foley is in Malaga.
Early Saturday, the home of another associate was ripped apart in a grenade attack.
The 2.20am explosion came horrifically close to claiming the lives of the children of the household. They had been watching television until 2am.
The grenade was rolled into the sittingroom of the house, ripping out the ceiling and attic.Gardai are convinced that the departure of Thompson and his pals will do little to calm his two feuds with the INLA and another jailed drug dealer.a consortium of criminals have pooled €40,000 to have Thompson taken out. Already €20,000 has been paid over to the INLA to carry out the contract.The INLA have brought in a hitman from the North to carry out the contract.
Meanwhile, Thompson's gang have three criminals trying to shoot the INLA's Dublin chief.The ongoing violence has left local people terrified. Locals are also furious that the gangs are tarnishing the good names of the communities in the Crumlin/Drimnagh areas and the south inner city."When our children are looking for jobs, it doesn't help them when these thugs are spoiling the reputation of the area," said one local.One of those arrested was the criminal who shot Foley earlier this year and who has now fled to Malaga.Officers seized a bulletproof 7 series BMW in the chase, along with a stolen BMW about to be fitted with false plates

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British man has been arrested in Spain in connection with rape offences

A British man has been arrested in Spain in connection with rape offences committed in south-east London, police have said.The 49-year-old is accused of raping the same victim repeatedly over a number of years. Sources named the man as Ricky Devine. He was held in Alicante on the Costa del Sol earlier this month.He is being held under a European Arrest warrant and faces extradition to the UK. The offences are alleged to have taken place in Bexley from 2000. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "Spanish police arrested a 49-year-old British man on suspicion of rape on May 9."

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‘El Ardilla’ (The Squirrel). Major Drugs Gang Arrested In Torrellano

National Police raided a house in Torrellano used by an organised gang which distributed drugs throughout the province of Alicante and the surrounding regions. The same house was attacked 2 years ago, almost to the day, by another gang from France, which resulted in the death of one of the attackers.The police raid resulted in the detention of 9 gang members, including it’s leader Enrique C, known as ‘El Ardilla’ (The Squirrel). A search of the premises revealed a cache of firearms of various descriptions, 1.6 kilos of cocaine, a kilo of hashish and other drug related paraphernalia, plus 26,000€ in cash. Two jackets bearing the crest of the Guardia Civil were also found, which may have been used by the gang in attacks on their rivals. A stranger item found was a coffin – in a raid on the same premises some years ago, a live deer was found inside! All the drugs were hidden underneath the house and were located by a police drugs dog.The police had been tracking the gang for some time and built up a picture of it’s structure, which was well organised in pyramid form, with precise orders relating to it’s operations passing from it’s leader down through the various branches which dealt respectively with the transport, distribution, sales and packaging of drugs. Security measures it used made it the police operation very difficult but they gradually built their case before striking.
The house is one of two on a finca in Torrellano, where accommodation was provided for gang members by El Ardilla and his family. The nine people arrested are aged between 27 and 44, three of whom come from Alicante and 2 from Elche. After appearing before a court, El Ardilla and his son were remanded in custody while the other 7 were given bail.

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Ciudad de la Luz film studios investigation by European Commission

Public funding of the Ciudad de la Luz film studios in Alicante is under scrutiny by the European Commission, who have announced an in-depth investigation to determine if funding from the Generalitat de Valencia, the regional government, could have distorted competition between European studios. It follows complaints from two film companies in Europe, and there are concerns that the Generalitat’s investment could have violated European regulations on state aid. Brussels said the Ciudad de la Luz complex is wholly owned by a company which is itself owned by the Valencia government through the Sociedad de Proyectos Temáticos de la Comunitat Valencia.
The European Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes, said in a statement released to the press that the studios have so far received 200 million € of public money, and pointed out that the final amount could be higher once construction is complete. The EC said the Spanish authorities’ argument is that the public support was not state aid as a private investor would have invested on the same terms: the statement adds that the Commission, ‘doubts that a private investor would have provided 100% funding for such a new large-scale entrant in a competitive market.’
The latest Asterix movie, Asterix at the Olympic Games, was shot at the Ciudad de la Luz, and premiered in Spain earlier this month.

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