Team of armed robbers broke into Dolph Ludgren villa on the Costa del Sol

Dolph Ludgren, who has been married to jewellery designer Anette Qviberg for 15 years, and has two children, has stepped up security at his home following the raid last week.Team of armed robbers broke into the star's villa on the Costa del Sol, tied up his wife, who was home alone, and terrorised her into handing over cash and jewellery.But they cut short their raid on the luxury property in the hills above Marbella after recognising the actor in a family photograph in one of the bedrooms. source told Spanish media: "Things might have turned out very differently if Dolph had been at home.

"The criminals fled as soon as they realised the owner of the house they had raided was someone they wouldn't want to come up against in a fight."

The Swedish actor, who is 6ft 5in tall and has a black belt in Karate, rose to fame with his role as Russian boxer Ivan Drago in the fourth of the Rocky films. He has since starred in more than 40 films and still trains up to six days a week at his local gym. The 51-year-old recently took part in a six-round exhibition fight against a Russian wrestler in Moscow. "It left Anette pretty traumatised," said a source close to the family. "She's Dolph's angel and anyone who messes with her is messing with him."
Spanish police are hunting for the three masked attackers. "Police have got very few leads. All three burglars wore balaclavas and they've no real description to go on," a source said. "They're looking at CCTV footage to see if they can advance the inquiry.
"Dolph's away on business a lot and he's increased security to try to avoid a repeat."Anette has even spoken about leaving the area but Dolph's persuaded her it's a one-off and they should stay put for now."

Costa Del Sol drugs war is spilling onto the streets of Britain

Detectives fear a Costa Del Sol drugs war is spilling onto the streets of Britain after a kidnapping.
One man had his ear hacked off in a horrific attack.He was snatched along with another man outside an curry house in West Yorkshire and they were driven around for two hours before being dumped near Crosby Marina, Merseyside.Now police fear an underworld eruption and an orgy of violence will follow the attack as the savage drugs war escalates.Two men were kidnapped off a street in Lupset, Yorkshire, before being found by passers by in Crosby.After being snatched and bundled into a Citroen Berlingo van, the pair were subjected to two hours of torture before one had an ear sliced off.
A police source said: "Two men were found badly beaten on the Marina in Crosby, and one had had his ear hacked off.

"It seems a drugs package had gone missing on its way from Spain and the gang were trying to find out where it was.

"The attack was very vicious and there was lots of blood. It looked more like a scene from a movie."Gangs are becoming more brutal and these kinds of attacks are getting more frequent.

"The package was probably from the Costa Del Sol as so many gangs have links there."

The two men, a 48-year-old from Wakefield, and a 52-year-old from Barnsley, have since been released from hospital.Leading the investigation DCI Jon Hoyle said: "We are investigating a serious and targetted assault on two men."We are keeping an open mind as to the motive of the attack and continue to appeal for information.
"These men were subjected to a sustained attack causing serious injuries before they were found by a member of the public in Crosby."

finca ‘Los Naranjos’ shot at close range with a hunting shotgun

Autopsies carried out on the bodies of two men found dead on the finca ‘Los Naranjos’, on the Camino de los Martínez in Alhaurín de la Torre, on Saturday night have confirmed that they were shot at close range with a hunting shotgun. Neither man was carrying documentation and has yet to be identified, although reports from El Mundo newspaper indicate they could be from South America and are possibly from Colombia.The man arrested in connection with their deaths is the owner of the finca and testing for gunpowder residue is being carried out on the dead men’s hands to determine if either of them shot at the suspect now in custody. There are some reports that both were carrying pistols, and the owner of the finca is reported to have claimed that he defended himself when the two men attacked his property.

Swedish man arrested for murdering his wife at their home in Torrevieja last Saturday has been remanded to custody

Swedish man arrested for murdering his wife at their home in Torrevieja last Saturday has been remanded to custody by the judge. Judge Iris Valero is in charge of domestic violence cases locally and is understood to believe the murder was premeditated, La Verdad newspaper reports.The paper notes statements from neighbours on the urbanisation where the couple lived, La Siesta, that the victim, 67 year old Mona J., suffered repeated abuse from her husband. The accused, Karl J., aged 66, now faces domestic violence charges as well as the murder charge.He attended court on Tuesday in a wheelchair after being admitted to hospital with dehydration the previous night; he had refused to take in any food or liquids since his arrest last Saturday.La Verdad reports that Karl J. was too drunk to make a statement to police on the day of his arrest.

Four drug smugglers have been arrested in Cádiz

Four drug smugglers have been arrested in Cádiz in a joint Civil Guard and Customs operation which has seized more than a ton of cannabis from a boat boarded off Puerto de Santa María. Officers discovered 1.1 tons of the drug hidden in a false bottom built into the boat once the vessel, which was flying under the Spanish flag, was inspected in port.The two crew members taken into custody are both Spaniards, as are another two men arrested in Chipiona who are believed to have been the leaders of the smuggling operation.
A search of one of the suspects’ home in Sanlúcar de Barrameda revealed a stash of more than 8,000 € cash, together with three hunting rifles. Eleven mobile phones, a satellite phone and a car have also been impounded along with the boat.

Scott Harrison has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a court in Spain.

Scott Harrison,former world featherweight boxing champion, was arrested at Málaga airport on Thursday when he got off an Easy Jet flight from Glasgow with his parents. They have told the press that they were aware of a warrant against him, but they did not think it would be acted upon.A warrant had previously been issued for his arrest after he missed a court date last September, and as he has to stand trial in the Málaga provincial court on charges of robbery and of assaulting a policeman and one other in 2006. The recovering alcoholic says he has come back to Spain of his own free will to try and clear up the matter, but he faces up to three years in prison if found guilty. He has already spent five months on remand in the Alhaurín de la Torre prison because of the case and also has had his Costa del Sol home seized by the bank.Scott Harrison has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a court in Spain. Harrison was detained by officers from the country's National Police when he landed at Malaga Airport on Thursday.
The 31-year-old was found guilty of attempting to steal a car and assaulting two men in the vehicle as well as a policeman in October 2006. He spent five weeks in a maximum security Spanish jail after his initial arrest near Malaga. Harrison had a glittering career in boxing, becoming WBO featherweight champion in 2002 and subsequently defending it successfully. But he has faced problems with alcohol, drugs and depression, and in 2006 he was declared bankrupt, stripped of both his WBO title and his licence to box for bringing the sport into disrepute. He was jailed in Scotland last year after admitting drink driving, assault and breaching bail conditions.

Harrison was released from Glasgow's Barlinnie prison in December, after serving four months of a eight-month sentence.

A judge in Spain issued an international arrest warrant after he failed to attend court last September, when he was serving time in Barlinnie.

Harrison, who is battling to get his boxing licence back, was found guilty of the attempted robbery and assaulted, after a drinking binge with his late uncle in October 2006.

Linekers Bar Fuengirola arson attack

Linekers Bar was badly burned in what is thought to be a deliberate arson attack last week .The bar is part of a European chain of bars owned by the brother of the ex-soccer player Gary Lineker .According to a local person the fire was suspicious and police are investigating some local hooligans .Others say that the fire could have been caused by a local tramp who used to sleep in the doorway and could possible have dropped a cigarette or match into the building . Sometimes the tramp would even light a fire in the doorway and someone has said that he was seen running away from the scene.The first Linekers Bar opened in 1988 in Tenerife and to get this one ready for Easter it was a case of builders working around the clock .Now part of a huge chain the Fuengirola branch opened in 1994.

Arrested a British couple and their 18 year old son, accusing them of the sale of marihuana

Guardia Civil has arrested a British couple and their 18 year old son, accusing them of the sale of marihuana which they were growing on their finca in Santa María de Nieva, Huércal Overa, Almería.
Ten plants and some 740 grams of the drug were recovered from the scene on April 7, according to a statement just released by the Guardia Civil. They also took some scales and bags of fertilizer.
The Britons have been named as 55 year old John Leslie P., 49 year old Sandra June S., and 18 year old John Terry S. The case is being heard in Instruction Court 1 in Huércal-Overa, and Europa Press reports the court has ordered the parents to prison on remand facing charges of a crime against public health.

Spanish police said on Tuesday that they have arrested 22 members of the Hells Angels biker gang

Arrested 22 members of the Hell's Angels biker gang in an operation which took place in five provinces. The majority of the arrests – 13 – were in Barcelona , with the remaining suspects taken into custody in Valencia, Málaga, Madrid and Las Palmas. The charges against them range from illicit association, to drugs and weapons trafficking, and extortion.The operation remains open, with more than 30 property searches having taken place so far. Biker clubs believed to be used by the gang members in Barcelona city and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat were also being searched, EFE reports. It’s understood that the Barcelona judge in charge of the investigation has issued a secrecy order.The joint operation by the Mossos d’Esquadra – the Catalan regional police force – and the Civil Guard confiscated military weapons and ammunition, bulletproof vests, a kilo of cocaine and 200,000 € in cash. One of the suspects is reported to have tried to use one of the firearms against a police officer as he was being arrested.

Spanish police said on Tuesday that they have arrested 22 members of the Hells Angels biker gang for drug trafficking, weapons possession, extortion and other crimes.The arrests led to the dismantlement of an "a dangerous group, with a paramilitary structure and which has international connections with other Hells Angels groups", a police statement said.It said the arrests took place in raids in several regions of the country, including northeastern Catalonia, southern Andalucia and in the capital Madrid.Officers seized guns, bullet-proof vests and a kilogram of cocaine.

Spanish police say they have arrested three lawyers suspected of laundering money for Russian mobsters.

Spanish police say they have arrested three lawyers suspected of laundering money for Russian mobsters.The National Police said in a statement Wednesday the three were picked up in the southern cities of Malaga and Marbella and said they worked for one of the most powerful Russian organized crime gangs.Police said investigators found evidence of bogus financial transactions by a complex network of companies that allegedly transferred proceeds from illegal activities in Russia to Spain for investment in houses, cars and other property.The arrests are part of an operation against organized crime in Spain under the orders of Judge Baltasar Garzon.
In a first phase, police arrested 20 suspected members of the gang last June in nationwide raids.

National Police have arrested a 17 year old in connection with the stabbing to death of a 47 year old man, Miguel Márquez

National Police have arrested a 17 year old in connection with the stabbing to death of a 47 year old man, Miguel Márquez, in La Línea de la Concepción, who was attacked last April 12 when out walking with his wife.The youngster is being held in a youth custody centre in Algeciras and declared before the juvenile court there on Friday. Five other people have been arrested for covering up the crime.The motive remains unclear, but police are reported to think it is some kind of settling of scores, while the youth says it was mistaken identity.

Police opened fire in the early hours on a man in Elche to stop him killing his ex partner.

Police opened fire in the early hours on a man in Elche to stop him killing his ex partner.A police patrol managed the save the woman after one of the police shot the man in the abdomen, with both the man and the woman resulting seriously injured. They are now both in the Elche General Hospital. The aggressor had stabbed the victim more than a dozen times.It happened around 4am in a flat in Calle Fray Jaime Toores where the woman in her 30’s was living with a girlfriend.The aggressor, a 44 year old Portuguese man ordered the girlfriend to leave the flat, and it was she who called the police.
There was a distancing order in place against the aggressor according to sources close to the investigation.

Swedish man has been arrested in Torrevieja for allegedly strangling his 66 year old wife to death

Swedish man has been arrested in Torrevieja for allegedly strangling his 66 year old wife to death on Saturday.It happened in the La Fiesta urbanisation in the town, and reports indicate the husband was drunk at the time of the attack. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death. The couple had been living in Torrevieja for some years, and there had been no previous reports of domestic violence.

Ex Banco Popular bank manager, José Pérez Díaz, known as ‘Pepe el del Popular’, and who fled to Mexico

Ex Banco Popular bank manager, José Pérez Díaz, known as ‘Pepe el del Popular’, and who fled to Mexico after allegedly carrying out a six billion pesetas fraud in Santander 20 years ago, is coming back to Spain.The court here found him not guilty given the passage of time since the office was committed, and that verdict led to him being released from custody in Mexico.Reports indicate he has wanted to return to Spain for some time, and will board a flight today, arriving back here on Saturday. He has told reports that he is coming back to Spain to ‘clear up the case’

Russian mafia Tambovskaya-Malshevskaya links as three Marbella lawyers arrested

National Court judge, Baltasar Garzón, ordered Kiril Illine Yudasehev to prison on charges of illegal association and money laundering after questioning in Madrid on Friday.One of the three Marbella lawyers who were arrested on Thursday in a new stage of the ‘Troika’ operation against money laundering linked to the Russian mafia, has been sent to prison on remand.The other two lawyers, both Spaniards, Francisco Eloy Ocaña and Antonio de Fortuny, both still face money laundering charges but were released. Ocaña was given five days to find 10,000 € bail, while Fortuny had bail set at a million € and has to register in the court weekly. He is 76 years old and reported to be in a delicate state of health, hence the judge’s decision not to deprive him of his freedom at this stage.Garzón considers the Russian mafia has companies and accounts in financial havens as well as interests linked in the case to Spain, Panama, Lichtenstein and Russia.

There’s nothing to indicate at this stage the body may be Amy Fitzpatrick’s

“There’s nothing to indicate at this stage the body may be Amy Fitzpatrick’s and we’re not going to rule anything out until we’ve managed to establish an identity or at least the sex of the victim.
“But the area this body was discovered in was well searched when Amy went missing.”The remains were found inside a sewage pipe near Mijas football stadium where a massive search for Amy took place shortly after she went missing on New Year’s Day 2008.Amy’s mother Audrey said: “I am aware a body has been discovered and the search for Amy soon after she went missing was started from the football stadium

.“But I’ve spoken to the Guardia Civil and they’re telling me the body is that of a man.

“I’m confident it’s not Amy’s. For me nothing has changed. I’m still praying nothing bad’s happened to her and she’ll come home one day soon.”Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared aged 15 as she walked home from a friend’s house where she had been babysitting the night before. She is thought to have taken a short cut along an unlit path to reach her home.She vanished with just the clothes she was wearing and no passport or money.

Gypsy families decided to leave 34 apartments in the Golden Hills development

Gypsy families who had been squatting in an embargoed urbanisation since Sunday have decided to leave and all of them had moved out by the early hours of Wednesday. Police remained at the scene to prevent any of them returning.Between 100 and 150 people spent two nights in the 34 apartments of the Golden Hills development, and moved in there from social housing in Molino de Viento. EFE reports that other families from Sevilla and Málaga arrived on Tuesday morning, but a visit from Mijas Town Hall’s social services department that day convinced the squatters that they should go. The Town Hall has no jurisdiction in the matter however, and the only possibility had the squatters not decided to leave would have been the owner applying for an eviction order to the courts.
The apartments on the development are almost complete, but no work has taken place there for the past two years after it was embargoed from the developer. The development’s current owner is the bank.

Breast and Buttock implants for between 250 and 500 €, injecting liquid silicone with a type of instrument used by vets on animals

Police in Barcelona have arrested a 63 year old man who allegedly passed himself off as a cosmetic surgeon and carried out the surgery in filthy conditions in his home. Three dogs, a cat and a parrot lived with him in his flat in the El Raval area of the city.
He is said to have performed breast and buttock implants for between 250 and 500 €, and injected liquid silicone with a type of instrument which is normally used by vets on animals. The instrument uses reusable needles, but officers found no facilities for sterilising them on the premises. Another concern is that the liquid silicone used on patients is not of the type which can be injected.His patients came from all over Spain, and he was due to operate on a woman from Madrid on the day he was taken into custody, last Friday. He had another appointment booked for the Sunday.Juan P.L. does not have a licence to practice medicine and is understood to have a history of similar offences in the past. His arrest came about from a complaint from a doctor in the Basque Country regarding a breast implant performed on a patient.
The bogus doctor has been remanded to custody for a public health crime and another charge of the unauthorised practice of a profession.

Three Costa del Sol lawyers suspected of laundering money forTambov/Tamboskaya group arrested

Police on Wednesday arrested three lawyers suspected of laundering money for Russian mobsters in southern Spain, authorities said.The suspects _ who were not identified by name or nationality _ allegedly worked with a powerful Russian organized crime gang known as the Tambov/Tamboskaya group, Spanish police said in a statement.
Investigators found evidence of bogus financial transactions since the late 1990s that funneled proceeds from criminal activities in Russia into Spain and invested them in expensive houses, cars and other property in the Costa del Sol area through a complex network of companies, police said.Police made Wednesday's arrests and seized property and unspecified assets in Malaga and Marbella, where police said the suspects were found living in luxury.
The arrests were part of an ongoing operation ordered by Judge Baltasar Garzon. In the first phase of the operation in June, police arrested 20 suspects nationwide and seized

Armed British Landlord demands Orihuela Costa rent

64 year old British man has been arrested in the Horizonte urbanisation in Orihuela Costa for allegedly making threats at gunpoint.The man, who has not been named in reports, is alleged to have threatened other Britons, described as a young group, who are renting property from him, demanding that they pay their rent.
Police say the pistol used by the man was a replica which worked with compressed air.The man faces charges of making threats and housebreaking and entry.

British man, is in a deep coma after being attacked by a burglar at his home in Benalmádena

65 year old man, reported as British, is in a coma after being attacked by a burglar at his home in Benalmádena on Friday, La Opinión de Málaga reports this Tuesday.The un-named victim is reported to be under treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga and his condition is serious.It happened in an apartment block on Calle Levante on the Alegranza Urbanisation when the pensioner returned home from a local bar. The paper says his attacker was tall with a shaved head and assaulted his victim after following him inside the flat.The assailant is understood to have set the property alight before he made his escape.

Badly burnt body was found in a waste pipe in La Cala de Mijas possible links to unsolved disappearance

autopsy is to take place on a badly burnt body which was found in a waste pipe in La Cala de Mijas this Sunday.
The discovery was made by a passerby in the area of La Rosa on Sunday morning, a short distance away from La Cala’s football ground, Málaga Hoy newspaper reports.It’s understood the autopsy could take some days to complete, as only parts of the cranium and body had survived the blaze, which it’s believed may have been set only the night before. An initial examination was unable to determine either the sex or the age of the victim.

The newspaper notes the body was found close to the area where the British man, Tony King, killed the Mijas youngster, Rocío Wanninkof, in October 1999. He’s now serving 19 years in prison for her murder.

Authorities are trying to identify a badly decomposed body which was found floating in waters off Estepona

Authorities are trying to identify a badly decomposed body which was found floating in waters off Estepona on Thursday morning. The discovery was made by a crew member of a passing yacht and the Coastguard were immediately informed.In Alhaurín de la Torre, the woman who was found dead in a parking area used by hire cars on Tuesday met a violent death, according to sources in the investigation quoted by the newspaper, La Opinión de Málaga. There is little detail on the case as it is governed by a secrecy order, but it is known that the autopsy was held on Wednesday and that the woman, said to be in her 30s, died some time ago. Her body was also badly decomposed.No information has been released on her identity, but she is believed to be a woman reported missing some three weeks ago who was renting a nearby house. She was found face down, with her body partially covered by plastic sheeting.

Marbella arrests

“The international nature of this operation outlines the fact that criminal groups causing harm in our communities have links in many countries.” Four people were arrested after cash, drugs and imitation guns were seized in police raids across England. Two 37-year-olds were arrested at an address in Missenden Road in Amersham. And a 36-year-old man was arrested at a property in Carrington Road in High Wycombe, with a 44-year-old being cautioned and released for possessing cocaine at a house in Highfield Avenue in the town.
A property in Dukes Valley, Gerrards Cross, was also searched.
Raids were also carried in Middlesex, which saw three arrests made, Amsterdam, where two people were arrested in the same operation, in Marbella. The warrants were carried out following a lengthy investigation from Thames Valley Police's Organised Crime Group, with the assistance of officers in Holland and Spain.
All the people arrested have been released on bail until various dates in late May and early June. Det Supt David Poole, head of Specialist Operations, said: “This successful operation was complex, but completed with the help of more than 100 officers from a variety of organisations. “I hope the action we have taken reassures people that we do act on intelligence and use the information given to us by the public to arrest and disrupt criminal gangs.

Two Britons and a German have been arrested by the police in Mallorca and charged with negligent homicide

Two Britons and a German have been arrested by the police in Mallorca and charged with negligent homicide after a 32 year old British man died following a fight last Saturday night in the Puerto de Alcúdia in Mallorca.The Britons have been named as 23 year old Matthew James F. and 27 year old Graham Loye W.The German is 23 year old Benjamin J.The three of them were involved in the fight with the fourth man, the 32 year old Briton, as yet un-named in reports, who was helped by the police at the time but who told them he was fine and wanted to go home. Hours later he was found in his own vomit and taken to the Son Dureta Hospital where he later died.All three arrested are residents in the Puerto de Alcúdia. The investigation remains open as the results of the autopsy are awaited.

British man arrested on the Costa del Sol

Details have emerged on the violent burglary gang arrested on the Costa del Sol in the Civil Guard operation ‘Ronin.’ Their nationalities have been given as 7 Spaniards, 2 Moroccans and one each from Belgium, Colombia, Argentina and Britain.The leader of the gang is Spanish.According to information from Diario Sur, officers in Operation Ronin carried out 17 property searches as part of their investigations: in Málaga city itself, and, in the province, in Fuengirola, Mijas and Marbella, as well as in Melilla.
The group is said to have operated in Fuengirola and Mijas, targeting fast food restaurants and private homes.

Marta’s family were in Madrid this weekend, collecting signatures in support of ‘cadena perpetua’ – life imprisonment

Monday was the team’s 15th day at the site, with the search centred on the area where newspapers found show it to be the spot where refuse was deposited after collection on the night Marta’s body was allegedly dumped.Marta’s family were meanwhile in Madrid this weekend, collecting signatures in support of ‘cadena perpetua’ – life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. They now have 100,000 signatures asking for a referendum on the matter.
It’s now been two weeks since the search began in Sevilla’s main rubbish tip in Alcalá de Guadaíra for the body of 17 year old Marta del Castillo, after the main suspect for her murder, her ex boyfriend Miguel Carcaño., admitted to dumping her body in a rubbish container in Sevilla City. He had originally said he had thrown the body into the Guadalquivir River.The search at the tip has only stopped in the past fortnight to allow the team to rest on Sundays.

Granada executions of two South Americans

Police in Granada are investigating the death of two men, whose bodies were found by a passerby on the right-hand bank of the río Genil on Thursday morning. They were lying in a ditch on the Camino de Perchil. Both were tied up and both had been shot in the head.
The men are believed to be from South America, in their thirties, but it’s understood that they have yet to be identified as neither of the two were carrying any documentation.

17 year old girl has died after being shot twice with a shotgun in the bedroom of her villa in Alfaz del Pi in Alicante

17 year old girl has died after being shot twice with a shotgun in the bedroom of her villa in Alfaz del Pi in Alicante.It happened in Saturday morning between 9am, when her mother went to open her local business, and 12 noon when the body of the victim was found by the cleaning lady at the house at 10, Camí de Coves. She called the girl’s mother who rushed home only to find the body of her shot daughter.It appears she was shot with her father’s shotgun which was kept in the house.As yet there have been no arrests in the case, as it is hoped the autopsy will bring some new evidence. It appears the shotgun is now missing and no motive has been ruled out as investigations continue. Both the victim’s parents have given statements to the Guardia Civil.The family is well known in Alfaz, given that they run the central ‘Avenida’ bar in Avenida País Valenciano.

Arrest of 13 members of a gang which specialised in violent burglaries on the Costa del Sol.

The Spanish Interior Ministry says more than 30 crimes, most of them involving violence, have been solved with the arrest of 13 members of a gang which specialised in violent burglaries on the Costa del Sol. Dubbed ‘Operación Ronin’, it’s been described by the government representative for Málaga province, Hilario López Luna, as a ‘brilliant’ operation.Their set-up was highly organised with a hierarchical structure down from the leader to the chief of operations, with others responsible for logistical support and then those who carried out the assaults. The leader maintained a tight rein on the network and only handed out weapons before each assault, to be returned after the crime was committed.The weapons seized include a Kalashnikov-type submachine gun complete with silencer, two hunting rifles, seven side arms and two machetes.
Also seized were 5,000 € in cash and other items needed for carrying out the assaults: clothing including gloves and balaclavas, rope and defence sprays.The investigation began in January and is instructed by Court No. 1 in Fuengirola.