The Wine Museum (Museo del Vino), Ojen, Marbella

 

You’ll need a car to reach Ojen. It was made famous by a local liqueur and Julio Iglesias has a home here. It’s heaven for nature lovers, set in the mountains just above Marbella and is definitely worth a detour, not just for a taste of some fine Spanish wines, but for a feel for the quieter side of Marbella, where birdsong and the whizz of mopeds are the soundtrack in spring and summer. This is Malaga’s “spiritual” home, but it’s not just wines that are on display or for tasting. Resident guide Antonio will tell you it’s Ojen’s own special Eau-de-Vie (a concoction of aniseed and aromatic herbs that packs quite a punch) that originally put the Ojen on the worldwide map. In 1840 a man called Pedro Morales started distilling the special liqueur but he kept the recipe a secret. Soon, visitors were asking for a “copita de Ojen” in bars around Spain and it was exported all over the world. Picasso probbly enjoyed a swig or two – he immortalised a bottle of the anisette liqueur in his work “Bodegon Espanol”. But after being passed down from father to eldest son over four generations, one father died suddenly before he had the chance to pass the formula on, so the recipe remains a mystery. Also worth visiting: The local 16th-century church with its square minaret-style Mudejar tower; the Caves of Ojen; the Los Chorros fountain; and Juanar Palace, a very old hunting lodge (game is still shot here) that is now a hotel and restaurant, set in the hiker’s and rider’s paradise in the Sierra Blanca mountains.

 

Michael Dermot McArdle was found guilty of negligent homicide at his trial

Supreme Court has confirmed the Málaga provincial court’s verdict in the death in Marbella in February 2000 of a woman who fell to her death from a hotel balcony. The victim’s Irish husband was found guilty of negligent homicide at his trial and Spain’s highest court has now confirmed that ruling after refusing to admit for consideration the appeal placed by his lawyers.The sentence was previously confirmed by the Andalucía High Court some months ago.It happened on 11th February 2000, the day, Diario Sur notes, that the couple, 39 year old Michael Dermot McArdle, from Dundalk, and his wife Kelly-Anne, had arrived in Marbella with their 3 year old son. The jury in the case agreed that the victim fell from the balcony during a row with her husband, and considered that he had no intention of killing her and had, in fact, tried to stop her from falling.The Andalucía High Court however said when it confirmed the lower court’s ruling that the accused had failed to observe the most fundamental duty of care which any person should observe in such a dangerous situation.

Juan Antonio Yagüe, a former GIL councillor in Marbella and brother to the town’s ex Mayor, Marisol Yagüe, has accepted serving nine sentences

Juan Antonio Yagüe, a former GIL councillor in Marbella and brother to the town’s ex Mayor, Marisol Yagüe, has accepted serving nine sentences of 15 months in prison for planning charges against him which were due to come to court in Málaga. The news of the deal was revealed by Diario Sur this Monday and it’s understood that Yagüe has accepted serving the terms which had been requested by the prosecution service.Yagüe fled the country in 2006 and was arrested earlier this year on returning to Spain from Venezuela, after giving himself up to the Spanish Consulate there and flying home under a safe conduct order. He was wanted under an international arrest warrant after failing to turn up for a one-year sentence for planning crimes.The nine other cases against him also relate to planning crimes for which other Marbella ex councillors, including another former Mayor, Julián Muñoz, have already been found guilty. Yagüe was out of the country when their trials took place. They relate to licences issued to build new homes on land which was classified as unsuitable for development

Donato Palermo? wanted Italian Mafia chief has been arrested in Marbella

wanted Italian Mafia chief has been arrested in Marbella on an international arrest warrant issued by Italy where he fled a 12 and a half years prison sentence for drug trafficking. Named by La Opinión de Málaga as B.C.M., he is said by police to have been going under the name of Donato Palermo while in Marbella, and is understood to have been arrested in a flat on the town’s paseo marítimo last week.National Police in Málaga said in a statement that the suspect is believed to have held a key position in coordinating the drug gangs which bring cocaine into Europe from Colombia and Brazil for distribution in the Lombardy area of Italy.Evidence described as of interest to the police investigation into the drugs organisation was found in a search of the suspect’s Marbella home.

Raffaele Amato, involved in a murderous turf war in the Camorra crime syndicate, was picked up Saturday in Marbella

Naples sweep follows the capture in the Spanish resort of Marbella Saturday of Raffaele Amato, an alleged Camorra boss who investigators say was one of Italy's top cocaine importers.Amato is accused of several murders dating back to the turf war that left more than a dozen people dead.Pisani said Tuesday's sweep against the Amato-Pagano clan also targeted illicitly gained wealth of Amato as well as other mobsters. Sky quoted investigators as saying assets were seized in Spain, Luxembourg, Germany and elsewhere in Europe.Raffaele Amato, involved in a murderous turf war in the Camorra crime syndicate, was picked up Saturday in Marbella, Naples prosecutor Giovandomenico Lepore said yesterday.Amato is accused of several homicides in a feud dating back to 1991 between two Camorra clans that left more than a dozen people dead. He was a top killer for boss Paolo Di Lauro, who was trying to keep control of the clan from rival Antonio Ruocco, Lepore said.Italian police arrested dozens of suspected members of the Naples-based Camorra crime syndicate, including a leading fugitive, in a pair of raids early Tuesday, authorities said Officers in the southern city of Caserta, some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Naples, said they arrested Franco Letizia shortly after midnight in a home in a nearby town. Letizia is accused of running extortion rackets and is the suspected chief of the Bidognetti crime clan, police said.Investigators suspect Letizia, 31, took over the reins of the clan after the capture in January of Giuseppe Setola, who was considered the mastermind of a bloody crime spree last year to eliminate rivals as well as punish businessmen who refused to pay protection money to the Camorra.Arrested along with Letizia were two suspected mobsters accused of helping him elude capture. Letizia, who is on Italy's list of 100 most-dangerous fugitives, had been on the run for more than a year. Caserta police said they pinpointed his hideout in San Cipriano d'Aversa after several months of intercepting phone conversations.In a separate operation in Naples, police chief Vittorio Pisani said officers from several police forces were delivering a major blow to the Amato-Pagano clan, which was believed to have emerged victorious in a bloody turf war in the early 1990s with the Di Lauro crime family.

The Amato-Pagano clan is currently "the most powerful clan in the city," Pisani told Sky TG24 TV.

Carabinieri paramilitary police say more than 100 arrest warrants were issued, but it was too soon to say how many suspects have been captured because the raids were still continuing.By mid-morning, Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said 35 suspects had been arrested in Naples and the surrounding countryside. The raids were dealing a "decisive blow against those responsible for hateful crimes, linked to international drug trafficking," La Russa said in a statement.The Naples sweep follows the capture in the

Spanish resort of Marbella Saturday of Raffaele Amato, an alleged Camorra boss who investigators say was one of Italy's top cocaine importers.

Amato is accused of several murders dating back to the turf war that left more than a dozen people dead.Pisani said Tuesday's sweep against the Amato-Pagano clan also targeted illicitly gained wealth of Amato as well as other mobsters. Sky quoted investigators as saying assets were seized in Spain, Luxembourg, Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Pat McCadden to face Spanish court.

Pat McCadden walked free after being accused of shooting a police officer in Spain may still stand trial.Convicted drug dealer Pat McCadden, 42, was last week told by Judge Gonzalo Divar he would not face court.But a lawyer for the unnamed 36-year-old officer - shot in Marbella in 2003 - has appealed.
Three years ago McCadden was arrested and picked out of an identity parade by the officer, shot by two men who also shot British shop owner Luke Miller.Alleged getaway driver Paul Lesbirel - also picked out by the cop - was cleared last week.
A police source said: "An appeal has been lodged. The officer intends taking it as far as he can." Gangster McCadden claimed to be a businessman importing Italian shoes into Glasgow. He was jailed for 10 years in 1985 for smuggling more than £600,000 of heroin.His lawyer Javier Muriel said: "Pat wasn't the gunman, wasn't at the scene and he's maintained his innocence all along."

Pat the Rat, was arrested three years after the officer was gunned down in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella.

Convicted drugs dealer Pat McCadden, 52, was celebrating yesterday after being told he will not face trial.The former shoe importer, nicknamed Pat the Rat, was arrested three years after the officer was gunned down in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella.He spent nearly seven months on remand in jail before being released on bail while a judicial probe continued.A judge has now dismissed the case against the Glaswegian after witnesses failed to identify him and he was told DNA found in a getaway car used by the gunman did not match the Scot's.Judge Gonzalo Divar made the decision after a request to stay proceedings against McCadden by his lawyer Javier Muriel.Muriel said yesterday : "Pat is very pleased with the news."It's been a very long and painful process, with all the problems associated with being publicly identified in relation to such an unpleasant matter as this.

Raffaele Amato was detained in a joint operation by Italian and Spanish police in Marbella

Raffaele Amato was detained in a joint operation by Italian and Spanish police in the city of Marbella on Saturday. leader of the powerful Neapolitan-based mafia, the Camorra, has been arrested in southern Spain, Italian prosecutors have said.
Amato is accused of eight murders between 1991 and 1993, and of being "the principal, or one of the principal importers of cocaine into Italy". He had been living under a false name on the Costa del Sol, police said. The 44-year-old had been a fugitive from Italian justice since 2006, when a Naples court issued a warrant for his arrest for murder. Police said Amato had once been a key lieutenant of the alleged mafia godfather, Paolo Di Lauro, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2006 for Mafia association, extortion and drug trafficking. However, about five years ago he led a successful breakaway from Di Lauro and took control of the narcotics market in Naples, they added.Raffaele Amato, considered to be one of the chiefs of the Napolitano Camorra Mafia, was arrested in Marbella on Saturday. EFE reports that the arrest took place in a joint Spanish and Italian police operation while the 44 year old man was dining with two members of his family in a restaurant.
Amato has been on the run from justice in Italy since 2006 and is accused of carrying out eight murders between 1991 and 1993.

International manhunt is under way to trace a Bradford man suspected of conspiracy to murder.

Raymond Daniels, 39, extradited from Marbella in Spain, where he had moved to in 2007, last December to face the drugs charges. Now he is feared to have fled abroad, although detectives also think he could be hiding in the UK. has not been seen since walking free from court in March when a judge threw out drugs conspiracy charges against him. Daniels, of Drighlington, is wanted for questioning about a conspiracy to murder Mohammed Nissar Khan – one of his co-defendants on the drugs allegations. But he disappeared after an application to dismiss charges of conspiracy to supply heroin, against Daniels, Khan and three other men and allegedly involving £750,000 of the drug, was granted by Judge Roger Scott at Bradford Crown Court on March 6. The decision was upheld by a High Court judge after a challenge by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Daniels had been in custody awaiting trial in April on the drugs charges, but was released when they were dismissed. Two Bradford men, Christopher Fletcher, 46, and his nephew James Fletcher, 25, were arrested and charged in January with conspiring with Daniels, between June 2007 and May 2008 to murder Mohammed Nissar Khan. They are in custody and due to face trial in July. Daniels, who has links to the travelling community, had not been charged with the murder conspiracy because detectives were awaiting the consent of the Spanish authorities, under extradition laws. That approval came two days after he had been freed from the drugs charges. Detectives in West Yorkshire Police’s Organised Crime Group are checking up on possible leads following a national appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch programme last week. Detective Chief Inspector John Hoyle urged anyone with information about Daniels’s whereabouts to come forward. He said: “Although Raymond Daniels is not a danger to the public in general, if anyone does recognise him they should not approach him but inform the police at once.

“We feel somebody must have assisted him. He has links throughout the country and in Spain and if anyone has information about where he is we are anxious to hear from them.”

Speaking of the drugs allegations, Det Chief Insp Hoyle said: “We presented the evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decided there was sufficient evidence to go before the courts.

“It’s unfortunate that this judgement came before we were able to charge him with conspiracy to murder.”

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."

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.

James “Pancake” Taylor 29-year-old was released only because British police promised to return him if he was needed by the Spanish courts.

James “Pancake” Taylor 29-year-old was released only because British police promised to return him if he was needed by the Spanish courts.Taylor was arrested in the popular ex-pat playground of Marbella last year.He was allowed back to Merseyside under an international legal process known as ‘provisional liberty’.This occurs when an arresting authority informs officials in the accused’s home country what has happened. The accused is then sent home but only if the home country's police agree to take responsibility for returning him if required.Taylor, who was named as a leading member of Liverpool's underworld at a hearing before city licensing magistrates in 2005, was arrested on September 24 last year.It is believed Spanish police were at the time investigating a violent drugs war.They arrested Taylor over the shooting of a British man who was attacked following a nightclub brawl last AugustA group of British men - including several from Merseyside - and men of Middle Eastern descent had started a fight in the Nikki Beach bar in Las Chapas, Marbella, in the early hours of August 23.Two Iranians were arrested initially and gave statements to the Udyco arm of the police – which combats organised crime – before Taylor was arrested.He was held for more than three weeks before being released on provisional liberty. He did not have to pay any money for bail.The Spanish authorities list his case as ‘pending’.

ex Deputy Mayor of Marbella, Pedro Román, has denied in court of having committed any fiscal crime

ex Deputy Mayor of Marbella, Pedro Román, has denied in court of having committed any fiscal crimes because his companies were based in Switzerland. He claimed neither to have directed or managed the companies.He told the instruction judge in the Malaya case on Thursday that he had not obligation to declare the money in Spain.
Román faces five counts of fiscal crimes which defrauded Hacienda nearly six million €. His case was originally being treated as separate from the main Malaya case, but now has been brought in by the instruction judge, Óscar Pérez.

Heavy plant machinery stolen from the U.K. sold in Spain

Eight machines valued at 1.2 million € have been recovered in Málaga and Galicia, and reports indicate that the sales to third countries were used as a way of hiding shipments of drugs.police have broken up an organization which sold heavy plant machinery in Spain which had in fact been stolen from the U.K.Two people have been arrested, both of them in Marbella, named as E.C. from Argentina and Briton A.J.C., and another six are reportedly indicted in the case. The two arrested are accused to have changed the axel numbers of the vehicles concerned and offered them for sale though an opaque company. 25 kilos of hashish has also been recovered in the operation controlled by GRECO specialist police in Cádiz with help from agents in Marbella and A Coruña.EFE news agency reports that investigations started in 2007 into some British drug traffickers based in Marbella.

National Police have arrested one of the bosses of the Calabrese Mafia in Marbella.

National Police have arrested one of the bosses of the Calabrese Mafia in Marbella.
48 year old Giususeppe U. was a policeman himself in Italy and even acted as a bodyguard to a minster there for a time.He was arrested on a European warrant for large-scale hashish trafficking from Morocco, and is wanted in connection with the killing of Salvatore Nigro in Rome in 1997.He was also wanted here in Spain in connection with the killing of a Spaniard in Almería in 2003.He is to go before instruction court 5 in the National Court who are expected to extradite him.

National Police have broken up a network which defrauded four million € from 70 businessmen in Spain, Portugal and Holland.

National Police have broken up a network which defrauded four million € from 70 businessmen in Spain, Portugal and Holland. They caught out their victims by saying that they were businessmen representing Italian investors and offered loans for a share in the profits. Six arrests have been made, four of them in Marbella, one in Ibiza and another in Alicante, according to a police statement. The fraudsters set up a group of companies, based in Marbella, but with links to Alicante, Ibiza and Barcelona. Before the victims signed the contract they had to pay some costs and what was described as for insurance on the money requested.As part of the operation police have embargoed four properties worth more than a million €, together with several top of the range cars, and blocked 400,000 € in current bank accounts.

Raids in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol, and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, resulted in the Britons being arrested.

Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39, both from Glasgow, were detained following police raids in November. Londoners Stephen Denis Brown, 42 and Brian Rawlings, 63, were also arrested in a joint operation with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. The men are expected to spend several months in prison before facing trial at the National Criminal Court in Madrid. The operation also resulted in the arrest of Gerard Mooney, from Dublin, in October 2008. It is alleged that a truck that he was driving to Scotland contained 70kg of speed when it was stopped by police near Oxford. The subsequent raids in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol, and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, resulted in the Britons being arrested. The money laundering charges relate to the seizure of property in Spain along with luxury goods worth nearly £11m. These included a Ferrari F430 Spyder, a 599 Fiorano, two Hummers, a Porsche Cayenne turbo, an Audi Q7, a Mercedes 63 AMG and two BMWs. A luxury yacht was also confiscated.

Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39, both of Glasgow, and Stephen Brown, 42, Brian Rawlings, 63, and Debra Learmouth, 45 were arrested

Six people arrested in raids on a suspected drug smuggling gang based in Spain.
Police seized 70kg of speed, thought to be destined for sale in Scotland, after stopping a lorry near Oxford. A Spanish police spokeswoman said the arrests - five in Marbella, southern Spain, and Santa Cruz, Tenerife - followed an intelligence operation which lasted months. Cops seized around £84,000 in euros and £6000 in Scottish banknotes in the Spanish raids. They also confiscated two Ferraris, a Hummer, a Porsche, an Audi Q7 4x4, a BMW, three quad bikes, four jet skis and a 30ft boat. Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39, both of Glasgow, and Stephen Brown, 42, Brian Rawlings, 63, and Debra Learmouth, 45, all from London, were arrested in the raids in Marbella and Santa Cruz. Trucker Gerard Mooney, of Dublin, was arrested in Oxford.

Fernando del Valle, who the prosecution considers to be the ‘brain’ behind the scheme which allegedly laundered money originating from drug traffickin

accused is lawyer Fernando del Valle, who the prosecution considers to be the ‘brain’ behind the scheme which allegedly laundered money originating from drug trafficking, prostitution and tax fraud. Also suspected of involvement are two notaries, two female employees of Del Valle’s Marbella office and some clients, the majority of whom are foreigners. Del Valle spent six months in prison and was released in September 2005 on bail of 600,000 euros. The prosecution is requesting that he be sentenced to 15 years in jail, ordered to pay a 37.1 million euro fine plus compensation of 610,846 euros and a guarantee of 13.8 million euros for having laundered 12 million euros, according to the prosecutor’s report. The anti-corruption prosecutor alleges that Del Valle carried out 13 money laundering offences, 141 of falsifying documents, three offences against the tax authorities and two others against the legal authorities by providing false testimony.

Michael ‘Dermot’ McArdle goes on trial in Spain next week to face charges in relation to the death of his wife Kelly-Anne Corcoran in Costa Del Sol

Michael ‘Dermot’ McArdle goes on trial in Spain next week to face charges in relation to the death of his wife Kelly-Anne Corcoran in Costa Del Sol over eight years ago.Kelly-Anne (28) plunged to her death from the fourth floor balcony of a hotel in Marbella while the couple were on holiday with their two children in February 2000. McArdle, (39), from Haggardstown, who denies any involvement in his wife’s death, faces 14 years in prison if convicted of murder. The trial is set to begin on Monday in the Provincial Court of Malaga, Marbella. Members of the Corcoran family are expected to travel to Spain for the trial. Documents leaked to the Spanish newspaper ‘La Opinion de Malaga’ earlier this summer revealed that the prosecution’s case centres around evidence of an alleged struggle which appeared to have taken place in the couple’s hotel room prior to her fall. It was initially believed that Kelly-Anne died accidentally on the first day of the couple’s week-long holiday on February 12th, 2000, while trying to prevent her eldest son from toppling over the balcony. She survived the horrific fall but died of her injuries the following day, tragically leaving behind two sons aged just four and two years old at the time.