Leónidas Vargas was the Colombian drug trafficker was assassinated five arrested

Police in Madrid have arrested five people allegedly linked to the Leónidas case. Leónidas Vargas was the Colombian drug trafficker who was assassinated in his hospital bed in Madrid on January 8.Vargas was considered to be one of the most importing 19 drug traffickers in the world, and those now arrested in connection with the killing are also Colombian and aged between 22 and 34. The alleged head of the gang is among those being held, and at the time of arrest had a loaded gun in his possession.Police searched several premises across the Spanish capital on Thursday night.

Romanian burglary gang arrested

Spanish National Police have broken up what they describe as a military group of 25 people who dedicated their time to robbing from shops and homes across the country.
The arrests of the group, all Romanians, were made in Madrid, Valencia and on the Balearic Islands.Police say they had a network of spies who would first identify possible targets to be burgled, while another part of the group would set up a security cordon round the site when the theft was taking place. Police say they acted across the country and had frequency inhibitors to block alarms and ultrasound devices to deal with guard dogs.Investigations started in the Valencia region and the alleged head of the gang was detained as he was trying to board a plane from Madrid back to Romania. He was carrying 24,000 € cash at the time.

International luxury car theft gang broken up Madrid, Alicante and Málaga

Guardia Civil have broken up an international network specialists in the theft of luxury top of the range cars. 19 people have been arrested in the provinces of Madrid, Alicante and Málaga, and at least a dozen properties have been searched.
Spanish police say the group was one of the most active in Europe and could have carried out vehicle thefts in as many as ten provinces. Codenamed ‘Operación Lujo’, the nationalities of those arrested are Spanish, Bulgarian, and Peruvian.GUARDIA CIVIL have arrested 22 people in connection with the theft of luxury cars on the Costa Blanca and all over Spain.Operation ‘Lujo’ was set up at the end of 2007 after police identified a pattern in the number of luxury cars being stolen.
They centred their investigations on Alicante, Madrid and Málaga and this led to the identification of a number of individuals.A police spokesman said that the gang was divided into three groups, each with its own responsibilities. The first group would identify the cars to be stolen, they were followed by specialist car thieves who used electronic devices to record central locking codes on the target vehicles and neutralise their alarm systems.Once the vehicles had been stolen the third group produced false documentation for the cars, which included changing the number plates and altering chassis number details.Of the 22 people detained, 16 are Bulgarian, five are Spanish and one is a Peruvian.Two of the arrests were made in Alicante and Polop de la Marina and police recovered 83 stolen vehicles in searches of properties in Alicante, Madrid and Málaga.All 22 detainees have been remanded in custody while the police investigation continues.

Baggage handlers arrested at Airport

Four workers at Barajas airport in Madrid have been arrested for allowing cocaine into Spain. Three of the workers come from the baggage handling department, and unloaded the suitcases from the planes. They would then hide the drugs in rucksacks where they also put their lunch, and then sent it out of the airport later in found luggage.17 kilos of cocaine was intercepted when the airport’s own anti-drug force intervened.Those arrested have been named as 31 Clara A.R. from Madrid, 27 year old Luis Ismael C.M. from Cádiz, 33 year old Luis Pablo S. from Argentina, 26 year old Julian Yasid G.L., 30 year old Jimmy Darío M.B., 30 year old Alejandra María Z.O., 39 year old Maria Clemencia L.R, 38 year old John Jairo V.F, all from Colombia and Sergio Stalin M.M. from Ecuador.

black cocaine is being smuggled to Spain

Increasing amounts of black cocaine are being smuggled to Spain, with police discovering couriers of the drug which is undetectable to sniffer dogs and regular tests, the daily El Mundo reported on Tuesday.Police detained two Romanian women whose bags had inner linings made with the rubber-like substance, press reports said.Flying in from Brazil, the women made a stopover in Portugal, deliberately left their bags at Lisbon airport, and then requested them to be brought to a Madrid hotel, in an attempt to mislead police.
Police seized 16 kilos of the drug. The haul, which was destined for the Dutch market, was estimated to be worth a million euros.Black cocaine is a combination of regular cocaine and various chemicals, making it very difficult to detect.

Panic selling of shares predicts a deep recession starting on the Spanish Costas.

"Spain is going to face the very direst of economic circumstances: a cycle of recession, deflation and widespread private sector default - a depression in fact. This stock market slide is not just a 'correction'. It has a very, very, long way to go."

Panic selling of shares in Spain's big five real estate companies has seen their value tumble over the past seven days. Meanwhile, after a decade in which prices rose by 270%, house prices in Spain have been sluggish since the end of 2007, with reports that developers are cutting prices in popular coastal areas.
General Electric has withdrawn its interest, for the time being, in the take over of the second largest real estate business in Spain, Colonial. Latest reports indicate that another offer for Colonial could come from the United Arab Emirates following reports that the Colonial books have been opened to an investment arm of the Dubai Government, the ICD, the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
Trading on Colonial was suspended in Madrid for a time, and the shares fell slightly when trading resumed just before noon.
It seems that General Electric dropped out of the take over race when they could not agree on the terms of a confidentiality agreement with Colonial ahead of inspecting its books. GE say they are keeping the door open to a ‘possible future interest’.
The President of the Junta de Andalucía, Manuel Chaves, has today revealed conversations on the possible merger of the Andalucian Savings Banks. ‘A grand Andalucian Savings Bank is on the way’ he said, confirming multilateral conversations intended to merge all the savings banks which are based in the region. Chaves gave the news as part of his election manifesto for re-election at the poll which will be held on the same day as the General Election on March 9. Chaves said that the important thing was that an Andalucian Savings Bank be competitive both inside and outside the region.
La Caixa savings bank has announced profits down 17.8% in 2007 at 2.488 billion. President of the company, Isidro Fainé, admitted that such a ‘tragic correction’ had not been seen for several years.
The fall in profits comes though after the exceptional year in 2006 when the bank sold off its interests in Colonial real estate.Spain could now find itself facing a monetary squeeze just as the economy swings from boom to bust, more or less the fate suffered by Britain in the ERM debacle of 1992, except that Spain has no way out.
Bernard Connolly, global strategist for Banque AIG and former head of economic research for the European Commission, said the country will face a brutal adjustment over the next two years - if it can remain in the euro a