CRIME ON THE COSTAS is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
"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,"...
The home of Antonio Banderas in Marbella will have to be demolished because it has been judged to be illeg...
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 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,...
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, 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...
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...
The dive was precipitated last week when Valencian builder Astroc’s shares fell by 62 per cent after planning laws were changed. Since then panic has spread causing the Madrid Bourse (Spain’s Stock Exchange) to topple. Manuel Romera, Director of Madrid’s Institute of Industry said, “I can see a mortgage crisis building. We have a serious property bubble in this country and everyone is in denial; it’s worse than the US”. Dismay has also set into...
Dozens of stars from the worlds of sport, music and TV are choosing the elegant Spanish resort as their number one holiday choice.And many have dabbled in the booming Andalucian property market and bought second homes there.Marbella and nearby Puerto Banus are favourites with the rich and famous because they boast fine restaurants, exclusive bars and shops full of designer clothes.David and Victoria Beckham chose the resort's exclusive five-star...
