British villains have been joined by their Irish counterparts

You can run – but you can't hide from the gunmen on Spain's Costa del Crime | UK news | The Observer: "British villains have been joined by their Irish counterparts, partly as a result of the Irish authorities' increased activity in hunting down criminal assets. Last month Christy Kinahan, from Dublin, named by the Garda as a major player in drugs and arms, was arrested at his apartment near Marbella, in a co-ordinated series of raids across Europe that saw 11 properties in Spain turned over. There is also a powerful eastern European criminal presence: Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian. Simultaneously, the Galician coast in the north-west of the country became the European gateway for the Latin American cocaine trade. Spain now has the highest percentage of cocaine use in Europe.
The 2001 film Sexy Beast epitomises the tanned and complacent British villain in Spain. It was preceded on the screen in 1984 by Stephen Frears's The Hit, in which Terence Stamp played a supergrass on the run from his former colleagues, and followed in 2005 by the less celebrated The Business. Danny Smith, remembered now with flowers to 'Tall Dan' outside the lounge, may have had only a walk-on part in the latest Costa drama, but he will not be the last young Briton to slump to a barroom floor with a bullet in his head."

You can run – but you can't hide from the gunmen on Spain's Costa del Crime | UK news | The Observer

You can run – but you can't hide from the gunmen on Spain's Costa del Crime | UK news | The Observer: "Ronnie Knight, wide-boy former husband of the actress Barbara Windsor, acted as the underworld's ambassador to the area. He had property in the hills outside Fuengirola which he described in his autobiography, Black Knight, as 'paradise found', missing only a decent Indian restaurant to make it perfection. When he went back to stand trial at the Old Bailey in 1995 on charges of handling stolen money, his barrister, the late Richard Ferguson QC, told the judge that his client's image as a 'swashbuckling figure basking in the sun in Spain' was an exaggeration."

gunmen on Spain's Costa del Crime | UK news | The Observer

You can run – but you can't hide from the gunmen on Spain's Costa del Crime | UK news | The Observer: "shooting at the Lounge Bar in Mijas, near Marbella on the Costa del Sol, last Saturday night belongs in the non-fiction section. The death of Danny Smith, 26, from Billericay in Essex, is the latest murder of a foreigner to be investigated by Spanish police in what has become a world of expat mayhem and one that reinforces the image of this once magical part of the Iberian peninsula as the Costa del Crime, a nickname acquired nearly 30 years ago."

body of a woman, said to be Latin American and in her 30’s, was found in a Málaga street

body of a woman, said to be Latin American and in her 30’s, was found in a Málaga street on Friday. National Police say the body, which was found in Calle Alcalde José María Carmona, showed signs of violence. They were called to the scene by a passerby at 0650am on Friday.

Police later arrested a Spanish man in his 20’s at his workplace in the city. He has not yet been named in reports, and sources close to the investigation quoted by 20minutos say the relationship between him and the victim was ‘minimal’.

An autopsy has determined that the cause of death was asphyxia.

Paul Charleston, from Leigh, was taken into custody on Mallorca in November 2008, along with another Briton, 38 year old Donna Maria Messe, of Seisdon

court case in Palma de Mallorca into a fraud where at least 35 Britons were defrauded of 6.8 million € has got underway.

The Britons were convinced to invest in a project to build 18,000 luxury flats in Bulgaria, brought into the scam by webpages and a phone campaign in 2007 and 2008. The calls were made from an office in Palma were a company was created with a legal capital of 3,000 €, and the callers used false names.

On the opening of the case on Friday, Prosecutor Pedro Horrach, asked ‘where is the money?’, saying it had ‘vanished into smoke’ in a web of companies set up in Bulgaria and Morocco, and ‘including Gibraltar and other financial havens’.

Horrach is demanding a 14 year prison sentence for the two accused, the 45 year old Briton, Paul Charleston, and the Canadian, Brian Geifing, both of whom were in court ‘elegantly dressed and handcuffed’, according to El País. Both men live on the island, drive top of the range cars, and send their children to the most expensive school in Mallorca.

Paul Charleston, from Leigh, was taken into custody on Mallorca in November 2008, along with another Briton, 38 year old Donna Maria Messe, of Seisdon, Staffordshire.

Euro Weekly News | Mijas shooting was not gang related, say family | Costa del Sol | News | The Largest English Language Newspapers in Spain

Euro Weekly News | Mijas shooting was not gang related, say family | Costa del Sol | News | The Largest English Language Newspapers in Spain: "distraught parents of 26-year-old Briton Daniel Smith who was killed last Saturday at the The Lounge bar in Riviera del Sol have criticised the media for suggesting the murder of their son was gangland related.
Today, June 11, they told this newspaper their son was killed after he intervened to help a young woman who was being bothered by the alleged murderer, and in no way was related to anything else. They say the man that was bothering the woman threatened to return, which he did, and shot their son. They also explained that Daniel tried to help customers who were at the bar at the time by clearing them out of harm’s way.
Yesterday, June 10, government minister in Malaga Hilario Lopez was reported in by Europa Press as dismissing the speculation that the incident was a settling of scores as the motive.
On Monday an Irish national was arrested in Coin suspected of being involved in the brutal attack."

Weapons found in house where Irish murder suspect arrested - The Irish Times - Thu, Jun 10, 2010

Weapons found in house where Irish murder suspect arrested - The Irish Times - Thu, Jun 10, 2010: "weapons cache during a search of the house where they arrested an Irishman suspected of shooting a man outside a Costa del Sol bar.
Detectives discovered hand grenades, detonators, ammunition and packages believed to contain explosives including dynamite, after a search of the house in Coin, southern Spain, and called in police bomb disposal experts.
Daniel Smith (24), was shot by a gunman on a motorbike on Saturday evening. The British citizen died at the scene after being shot in the head, chest and neck.
Spanish authorities yesterday said that the shooting was not believed to be linked to organised crime.
The suspect, aged 27, was arrested on Monday evening"

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | Express Yourself :: Brits in Costa del Sol: Blood on the beaches

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | Express Yourself :: Brits in Costa del Sol: Blood on the beaches: "Londoner Paul Feathers, 32, was stabbed to death in front of his girlfriend at his home in the down-market resort of Benalmadena. Police are still hunting two men. Then the naked body of a man was caught in offshore fishing nets on May 5. His killers cut off his hands and feet before putting a bag over his head and a heavy chain round his neck.

He was reported at the weekend to have been identified as a Brit – although the police officially say they are not sure who he was. The latest victim was British expat Daniel Smith. The 24-year-old died in a hail of bullets on Saturday night on the terrace of a bar in the popular holiday resort of Riviera del Sol, near Fuengirola.

Drinkers dived for cover as a gunman opened fire from a high-powered motorbike. The authorities said it had all the hallmarks of a gangland assassination. A 27-year-old Irishman is still being questioned about the killing and a local government spokesman has confirmed the discovery of explosives in a house where the chief suspect is believed to have been holed up.

He is also said to be linked to one of the passengers in a car which was targeted in a drive-by shooting two years ago near the resort of Estepona. Dublin gangster Paddy Doyle was shot dead in that attack. Police believe a Briton with strong contacts to the criminal underworld who is currently held in a Spanish jail is a key lynchpin linking many of these crimes."

Gambia police seize 2.5 tonnes of cocaine worth $1 billion, arrest 12 - Rest of World - World - The Times of India

Gambia police seize 2.5 tonnes of cocaine worth $1 billion, arrest 12 - Rest of World - World - The Times of India: "Gambian police seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine bound for Europe and arrested a dozen suspected traffickers after a joint investigation with British detectives, a security source said on Tuesday.

West Africa has become a major transit point for Latin American narcotics as smugglers take advantage of generally weak surveillance in the vast region.

The cocaine, which has an estimated street value of around $1 billion, was found over the weekend hidden in a warehouse outside Gambia's capital Banjul, the source told Reuters.

He said a cache of guns and money was also seized. Gambian authorities began making arrests related to the case in mid-May and subsequently invited Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency to help, the source said."

cryptogon.com » $1 Billion Cocaine Bust in Gambia

cryptogon.com » $1 Billion Cocaine Bust in Gambia: "Gambian and British police seized more than two tonnes of cocaine worth about one billion dollars in a small fishing village — a record haul for West Africa, officials said Wednesday.
The operation highlighted the growing popularity of West Africa for South American drug cartels.
Fifteen people — South Americans, Europeans and Africans — working under cover of a fishing company on a tiny island were arrested following raids at Bonto on the tiny island near the Gambian capital Banjul, police said.
The 2.1 tonnes of cocaine was found in an underground bunker concealed behind a false wall in a warehouse used by the fishing company.
A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that four Nigerians, three Ghanaians, two Venezuelans, and three Dutch nationals were arrested on May 12 after residents of Bonto tipped off police.
The 12 suspects appeared in court on three charges of drug trafficking on Wednesday. They pleaded not guilty and were remanded in police custody, an AFP correspondent reported.
Two Gambians and a Nigerian were arrested late Tuesday and a senior police official told AFP more arrests were expected."

Jamie Daniel throws food over fellow con in rage at sentence. | News Of The World

Jamie Daniel throws food over fellow con in rage at sentence. News Of The World: "CRAZED crime boss Jamie Daniel's beef about being banged up boiled over when he threw a plate of steaming-hot stew at another inmate.
The hood's broth-chucking strop came only hours after he'd been given a year's porridge for a road-rage attack.
Last night a source revealed the 52-year-old hood was in a foul mood when he arrived back in Glasgow's tough Barlinnie nick.
'Daniel was a man possessed - swearing and snarling like a wildman"