Alcoa to Curtail Operations in Italy, Spain

 

Hours before kicking off earnings season, Alcoa (AA: 9.44, +0.02, +0.16%) said on Monday it plans to scale down operations at three aluminum smelters in Italy and Spain to tighten expenses as metal prices continue to fall. The curtailment will reduce the company’s global smelting capacity by 12%, or 531,000 metric tons, with operations as its Portovesme, Italy, and La Coruna and Avilies, Spain, facilities impacted in the first half of 2012. Alcoa plans to permanently close the facility in Portovesme, which has capacity of 150,000 metric tons, but just partially and temporarily shut the operations in Spain. The company said those plants are among the highest-cost producers in the Alcoa system. The Pittsburgh-based company blamed the curtailments on an uncompetitive energy market combined with rising raw materials costs and falling aluminum prices, which are down 27% from their peak in 2011. The move is a part of Alcoa’s long-term goal of improving its aluminum production operating margins by cutting down on costs. Last week, Alcoa said it would permanently close its smelter in Alcoa, Tennessee, and two potlines at its Rockdale, Texas, smelter. The company is expected to cut a total of 240,000 metric tons, or about 5%, of its global smelting capacity. “In today’s rapidly changing global economy, it is imperative to respond quickly to maintain competitiveness,” said Chris Ayers, president of Alcoa Global Primary Products.  “This decision was made after thorough analysis of all the possible alternatives.” The company said the total impact on its workforce will not be determined until consultations with employee representatives and government have been completed. However, the three facilities employ a total of about 1,500. Alcoa also says it will aggressively accelerate plans to reduce the cost of raw materials used by its primary products business and adjust capacity in the global refining system to reflect internal demand and market conditions.

Timothy O'Toole has been jailed for 15 years in Spain updated

A briton has been jailed for 15 years in Spain after police infiltrated a £126m cocaine smuggling operation. Timothy O'Toole, 53, who has Manchester connections, acquired the Atlantic Warden fishing boat to run drugs from Latin America to Europe - not realising the skipper was an undercover Customs officer. The vessel was boarded by police off the west coast of Africa after a three-year operation.
James Carabini, 45, from Dublin, was acquitted.Trafficker Timothy Kieran O'Toole (53), gave his address as Limerick but was using a British passport when he was arrested in May 2005. O'Toole is also thought to have connections with Manchester. He is not known here to any of the garda national units or to senior garda officers in Limerick. However, Dubliner James Carabini (45) was cleared of the charges by the three-judge national criminal court in Madrid. Father-of-two Carabini, of Carnlough Road, Cabra, moved to Spain after he came to the attention of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). As a result of a Cab investigation into his actions, Mr Carabini's social welfare payments were stopped and he and a friend had to hand over cash from an alleged overpayment. The Madrid court heard how an undercover international police operation, which had lasted three years, ended with the seizure of 3.5 metric tonnes of cocaine when a yacht was boarded off the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's west coast. O'Toole had supplied the Atlantic Warden boat for the cocaine run from Latin America after meetings with known drug dealers in Britain, Germany, Holland, Portugal and Spain. Those meetings were monitored by undercover police and customs officers from Britain, Spain and elsewhere. The court was told that O'Toole was believed to have been involved regularly in making contacts between South American cocaine barons and organised criminals in Europe. The haul on board the Atlantic Warden was headed for Galicia, on the northwest tip of Spain, from where it would have been distributed to the UK and other countries in northern Europe, the court heard. Several officers from British Customs and police forces in the UK were involved in Operation Warden which first began in 2003 when O'Toole attended a meeting in Hamburg, Germany, at which the acquisition of a yacht was discussed.
Other meetings took place in Marbella on the Costa del Sol; Faro on the Portuguese Algarve; in Holland; and in Britain including at Southampton, where the Atlantic Warden was berthed for a time. Also on trial were three Spaniards and one of them was acquitted of the charges along with Mr Carabini.
Convicted with O'Toole were Daniel Baulo Carballo (44) -- who was jailed for 17 years and six months as the leader of the attempt to bring the cocaine aboard the yacht to Spain -- and Gonzalo Ferreiro Soto, who was given a prison sentence of 13 years, six months and a day. All claimed they were victims of a police sting operation, which is not permitted under Spanish law. But the judges ruled that O'Toole and the two others had not been persuaded to commit the crime by the police, but had instigated the smuggling attempt themselves. What they had not realised was that undercover police and customs officers were monitoring their movements.

Scott Macaree was arrested in front of his children as he collected them from their new Spanish school

In a dramatic swoop, Scott Macaree, 34, of Sunset Drive, Havering-atte-Bower, was arrested in front of his children as he collected them from their new Spanish school.
Drug dealer who fled the country after being caught running a drugs factory from his kitchen was jailed for 20 months, but could be free in six.
Ten months before he had been caught with £1,750-worth of the class-A drug, weighing scales, and lottery tickets to wrap the deals, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Acting on intelligence, police raided the home he then shared with his wife and children in Ilford, in March last year but found no one home.
Macaree quietly returned two days later to collect his things and make a dash for the sunshine with his family.But he was caught in January in Spain and brought back to England, where he admitted possessing 29.2g of cocaine, on March 9 last year, with intent to supply.On Friday, he was jailed for 20 months. He sighed with relief and grinned broadly as he was told he would serve half his sentence, less four months he has spent in custody on remand.

21 arrests of Spaniards, Colombians, Peruvians and Romanians have been made on the Canaries, in Madrid and in Barcelona

A total of 21 arrests of Spaniards, Colombians, Peruvians and Romanians have been made on the Canaries, in Madrid and in Barcelona.joint operation between the National Police, Guardia Civil and the Agencia Tributaria, has completely broken up an International group of drug runners which had introduced large amounts of cocaine into Spain.568 kilos of cocaine, with a street value of more than 30 million €, has been recovered in Las Palmas with 850,000 € in cash, with the group believed to have been expert in laundering the money from their dealing. A series of luxury cars were impounded including Ferrari, Maserati, Lambourghini and Hummer.Investigators think the group were especially active in bringing the drug from Latin America in general, and Venezuela in particular, into Spain and Africa by sea and air.

14 people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil from Córdoba in a new national operation against child pornography in Spain

El Mundo reports that the police operation remains open and that at least 39 searches have been carried out across 21 provinces of Spain. Arrests and searches have been seen in Alicante, Barcelona, Cádiz, Girona, Guipúzcoa, Murcia, Vizcaya, Sevilla, Granada, Huesca, Las Palmas, Logroño, Madrid, Málaga, Pontevedra, Tenerife, Valencia Valladolid and Zaragoza.
14 people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil from Córdoba in a new national operation against child pornography in Spain. A computer teacher and a television cameraman are among those arrested, and the Guardia Civil say that on the computers seized from the 14 people arrested and 20 more thought to be implicated in the case, more than a million images have been recovered.The operation started last February when a person from Baena ran across paedophile videos featuring a four year old when using a file-sharing program.

Gangs of conmen are swindling holidaymakers in Spain and the Canaries out of billions of pounds every year

Gangs of conmen are swindling holidaymakers in Spain and the Canaries out of billions of pounds every year.The Office of Fair Trading says 400,000 Brits lose an average of £3,000 each to "holiday club" scams that promise endless sunshine breaks at too-good-to-be-true rates. touts all use the same techniques to snare their victims.
You're stopped in the street and offered a scratchcard. Surprise, surprise - you're a winner.To collect your prize - often a "free" holiday - you have to attend a presentation at a local hotel. You're then plied with cheap drink under a barrage of high-pressure sales.The bait is membership of a club that provides bargain holidays, flights and accommodation anywhere you want for 10 years - and you are showered with fabulous examples at knockdown prices. Typically the conmen initially ask for a membership fee of £10,000 but let you beat that down to £7,000, £5,000 or even a "bargain" £3,000 - if you hand over a deposit right away.
Once you get home you are given access to book holidays through a website - the trouble is they're rarely the ones you want and the prices are no better than anywhere else.The Office of Fair Trading has teamed up with regulators in Spain and Europe to put the racketeers out of business.
But the best way to beat them is make sure you're never tempted to join. When you're on holiday it's natural to dream of the time off you'd like to enjoy in the future.
But it's the very last time or place you should even consider making any sort of investment.So if you are interested tell them to send their literature to your home.
You're then in a better position to check who they are and take independent advice before committing yourself to anything.
If you want to invest in holidays for the future, timeshare is a better bet.
Plenty of reputable British firms offer it and you have the benefits of tight international regulation and our own laws to protect you.

Police have seized more than 35,000 ecstasy pills

Police have seized more than 35,000 ecstasy pills in the biggest drug bust in Spain against a Chinese mafia group.The drugs were found during raids on three apartments in Madrid, in which 14 Chinese citizens were arrested, including the alleged leader of the drug trafficking network. The pills, which were brought into Europe via Holland, were apparently intended for distribution across Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Spanish pedophile ring 17 faces charges of corruption of minors and possession of child pornography

Police in Spain have arrested 17 people across the country and seized computer equipment containing over one million images of a pedophile nature, the interior ministry said Friday.They are suspected of being part of a "wide-ranging and active network of people with residency in Spain who accessed and distributed these types of archives," it said in a statement.
The 17 faces charges of corruption of minors and possession of child pornography.
Over 60 police officers took part in the operation which involved searches of 18 homes.Spain has over last few years stepped up its fight against pedophilia with the use of a progam known as "Hispalis," which allows them to detect and provide names and addresses of Internet users as they are logging on to illicit websites

Spain is the major port of entry for South American cocaine, but large quantities also transport through Portugal.

According to the United Nations, Europe is the second largest illicit market in the world after the United States. Spain is the major port of entry for South American cocaine, but large quantities also transport through Portugal. US drugs official expressed concern Friday about growing quantities of cocaine being trafficked through Africa to Europe, as amounts of the stimulant reaching the United States tapers off."We are concerned because of the movement," US drug policy control director John Walters told reporters in Brussels.
He said that trafficking in 2007 had "shifted to cocaine coming out of Colombia, through Venezuela in increasing amounts, and by both maritime routes and by air, coming toward Europe."US figures showed that some 58,000 kilogrammes (128,000 pounds) of cocaine arrived in Europe from Venezuela last year -- compared to almost 29,000 (64,000 pounds) in 2000 -- while 3,600 kilogrammes (8,000 pounds) came from Colombia, well down from over 64,000 (141,000 pounds) eight years ago.
Walters, in the Belgian capital for talks with EU officials, was at a loss to explain exactly why Europe was becoming the destination of choice.
"There hasn't been a clear indication in 2007 of what may have happened with regard to flow," he said. "We need to understand this to figure out what's happening."
He acknowledged that a strong euro and higher street prices in Europe could have contributed to the change, but above all, he said, it was important to establish whether the shift was a temporary or more permanent phenomenon.
"Our goal, working with European nations, is not just to move the cocaine from the United States to Europe, our goal is to reduce the cocaine, so it is important to us what exactly is happening here," he said.
Walters said it may be necessary to re-focus the fight against cocaine trafficking slightly to Africa, to help its law enforcement bodies there better combat the drug while it is on the move.
"A movement through West Africa that destabilised the nations of West Africa further than they are already weakened state is not good for anybody," he said. "That is a critical issue."
"The question is: can we continue to accelerate efforts to reduce it at the source ... or do we also need to more extensively shift to building infrastructure in Africa to strengthen law enforcement and governance."

Gardai have smashed a link between a Dublin drug-trafficking gang and their suppliers in Spain.

Gardai have smashed a link between a Dublin drug-trafficking gang and their suppliers in Spain.An operation resulted in the seizure of eight kilos of cocaine with a potential street value of up to €2.3m.
The cocaine was seized in a holdall bag after members of the Garda national drugs unit stopped and searched a car at Pearse Square, off Pearse Street, shortly before 10am yesterday.Two Dublin men, from Cabra and the north inner city, were arrested along with two men from the English midlands.Last night they were being held for questioning at Pearse Street Garda station under the Drug Trafficking Act.
The four, aged 23, 25, 44 and 47, can be detained without charge for up to seven days.Gardai believe the drugs shipment had been recently smuggled into the country and was being moved across the city to be prepared for distribution to a network of street dealers.The seizure was described by officers last night as "very significant" as it represented a major financial and operational blow to a trafficking gang, which had been at the centre of a lengthy investigation by the garda unit.Yesterday's seizure, which was led by the recently appointed head of the unit, Det Chief Supt Tony Quilter, was the result of a detailed intelligence gathering operation involving a number of national squads.Detectives are satisfied that all of the shipment was destined for distribution.The two Dublin-based suspects were already known to gardai and last night further inquiries were being carried out across the channel into the background of the English men.Gardai said the cocaine consignment had not been concealed in the car and the occupants had been taken totally by surprise. Further searches were carried out throughout the day. Initial examination of the cocaine suggested it had a high purity, which would push up its street value, after it had been mixed and watered down before distribution, to well over €2m.This was the latest in a series of substantial drug seizures so far this year and last night gardai were particularly pleased that they had struck a blow against the north city gang, which had been the focus of their attention for months.Gardai have been working closely with officers from several English police forces in an effort to break the links between Irish trafficking gangs and their network of suppliers in Britain.Similar exchanges have been taking place with police in Spain, where the Irish gangs are also known to have bases.

Allan Foster,aka Sean Wilkinson murder suspect has £70,000 siezed by U.K. police

Allan Foster was named among 10 suspects posted by Crimestoppers on a most-wanted website for the Costa del Sol. Foster, the prime suspect in the murder of David “Noddy” Rice, has been on the run for two years.The 31-year-old is one of the Englands most wanted criminals after his alleged involvement in the gangland hit.Police believe Foster flew from his Spanish hideaway to assassinate Mr Rice in South Shields.It is thought he flew back after the killing, at a seaside car park near Marsden Grotto, South Tyneside, and has remained a fugitive since.Although he has never been caught, a police probe found more than £70,000 he had made from selling drugs at the home of the woman he used to share a house with, Shareena McAuley, and her mother Marilyn McAuley.
Now Shareena McAuley, 27, of Mozart Street, South Shields, has admitted conspiring with Foster and others to hide the cash. Mr Rice, 42, was shot by two masked men on the seafront after being lured to the meeting by Steven Bevens, 39. Bevens worked for Foster, who police believe fired the fatal shots. Last year Bevens, formerly of Wheatsheaf Court, Sunderland, was sentenced to life for murder, while driver Derek Blackburn, 51, of Humberside, was given four years for assisting an offender, later cut to two-and-a-half years.Caroline Goodwin, prosecuting at Newcastle Crown Court, said: “This arose out of a disturbing incident on May 25, 2006, when David Rice was murdered.“It led to an investigation into Allan Foster. Police were able to recover a great deal of money, which was said to be the proceeds of crime from the drug dealing of Allan Foster.”
A total of £70,440 was found during searches at the McAuleys’ house and now a judge has made a confiscation order, which means the money will stay in the hands of police. Judge Esmond Faulks said: “The money that was taken will be kept by the police. I’m not giving you any promises about the sentence, the maximum sentence is many years of imprisonment.”Shareena McAuley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal the proceeds of criminal property between June 1, 2006, and September 30, 2006. Marilyn McAuley, 56, also of Mozart Street, pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property, knowing or suspecting it was from the proceeds of crime.

Spanish police seized at least 83 million euros worth of buildings and bank deposits owned by drug traffickers in 2007, the police said Sunday.

Spanish police seized at least 83 million euros worth of buildings and bank deposits owned by drug traffickers in 2007, the police said Sunday. The buildings may actually be worth much more, as the police used public registry prices and not market prices to value them, a police statement said. Buying real estate has become one of the fastest ways to launder drug money through front companies, which develop two or three buildings to get the recognition that allows them to camouflage themselves. Drug traffickers also send money abroad via small transfers from money changers, banks or individuals carrying cash. The main investment destinations for ill-gotten gains are Colombia, the Caribbean and the U.S. city of Miami. Heroin income also tends to be sent to the United Arab Emiratescity of Dubai, the main banking center in that country.

Jury took just over four hours to clear Ian Rush.

Ian Rush accused of setting up a company to continue the work of a Lowestoft couple, who supplied high speed boats to international drug smugglers, has been found not guilty.Following a four week trial at Ipswich Crown Court, a jury took just over four hours to clear Ian Rush.
The ending of the case has cleared the way for the sentencing of Ellen George, 41, from Colville Road, Lowestoft, who was one of the owners of the business which HM Revenue and Customs alleged Rush had succeeded.
George has pleaded guilty to money laundering offences after Customs investigators, working in co-operation with the authorities in Spain, searched her home in Lowestoft and discovered £1.2 million in cash stashed in holdalls, cupboards and under the stairs. During Rush's trial, the prosecution alleged that he had worked with Neil Davison and Ellen George, who ran Crompton Marine and who specialised on manufacturing high speed inflatable boats, HM Revenue and Customs claimed that after Davison and George were arrested in March 2004, Rush set up his own business, Nautexco Marine to continue supplying boats to drug smugglers. Davison, also of Colville Road, is currently on bail in Spain accused of drug smuggling offences.
Rush, a father-of-three from Brand End Road, Butterwick, near Boston pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of drug smuggling and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.
Giving evidence, Rush had earlier told the jury that he had been unaware of the activities of Davison and George, who operated from the Brook Yachts site in Lowestoft, and for who he had delivered boats to Spain.

Ian Rush yesterday denied allegations that he continued the trade of a Lowestoft company

Ian Rush yesterday denied allegations that he continued the trade of a Lowestoft company after its owners were arrested for involvement in supplying boats to drug smugglers.Ian Rush, 43, told Ipswich Crown Court that while the business he set up produced the same type of high-speed craft at the same site in the town, he did nothing illegal.Rush said he had been unaware of the activities of Neil Davison and Ellen George, who ran Crompton Marine in Lowestoft and for whom he had delivered boats to Spain.HM Revenue and Customs claims that George and Davison, of Colville Road, Lowestoft, manufactured powerful boats for international drug traffickers while running a reputable boat yard at the Brook Yachts site.
George, 41, has pleaded guilty to her involvement while Davison remains on bail in Spain where he is facing drug-smuggling charges. Customs investigators, working with the auth-orities in Spain, searched George's home in Lowestoft and discovered £1.2m in cash stashed in holdalls, cupboards and under the stairs.
Yesterday, Rush, of Brand End Road, Butterwick, near Boston, denied that the arrest of Davison and George in March 2004 had been the motivation for him to start his own business, Nautexco Marine, with the aim of continuing the illegal trade.
Rush said that while he operated Nautexco Marine from the Brook Yachts site using some of the same suppliers and dealing with some of Crompton Marine's customers, he had never been involved in producing craft which he knew would be used for illegal purposes.He said Nautexco Marine had kept full records of all its financial deal-ings and a routine check by a VAT inspector had found nothing amiss.
The father-of-three told the jury it was while running his own transport firm, Rushtrans, that he carried out work for Davison at Crompton Marine but he was never involved in the running of their business.He also denied that visits he made to Spain to visit Davison in prison had been to plan continuing the work of Crompton Marine under another name.Rush has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of drug smuggling and con-spiracy to acquire criminal property.

Country's biggest ever investigation into internet fraud

Spanish police arrested 76 people nationwide on Sunday in what is being touted as the country's biggest ever investigation into internet fraud.Investigators reckon some of the suspects made more than €3bn through auction fraud. They would apparently offer expensive goods such as plasma TVs and cars for sale online, scarpering once the deals were made without handing over the goods, according to local reports. Others allegedly used stolen banking credentials to transfer money into their accounts, possibly as a part of a wider phishing scam.
More than half of those arrested and detained are Spaniards. Five Ukrainians, four Romanians, two Russians, two Moroccans and five people from Guniea were also hauled in for questioning in the same investigation, AFP adds.
Spanish police are urging consumers to be careful when buying goods online. They have complained that a lack of resources and weak judicial penalties against convicted fraudsters is hampering police efforts to stamp out the problem

Overseas Property Investments PLC shut down.

Nightmare holiday home company Overseas Property Investments PLC has been shut down.
Five investors took the firm to court after paying almost £1million for homes in Cyprus that never materialised.
The company, run by John, Rhodri and Daniel Foote, of Swansea, was put into compulsory liquidation after the High Court heard that furious investors had "completely lost faith" in it.

Pinares de Mijas is located in one of the best areas on the Costa del Sol. It is situated between the new racecourse of Mijas and within walking distance to the beach at El Chaparral.


Golf Girona These high quality golf resort villas are designed to the highest quality and overlook the excellent golf course and nearby mountains. The whole panoramic view is breathtaking. Costa Brava.Peralada The Golf Peralada resort is truly exclusive and peaceful, everything you would expect from this idyllic setting. The villas are built to the highest quality in true Catalonian style. Two of the many developments advertised in spain by Overseas Property Investments PLC .Overseas Property Investments (OPI) is the exclusive choice for the sophisticated property investor seeking high returns with a reduced element of risk.
With over £50m in asset end-values, and controlling around £100 million in project value, this dynamic, profit focused company is a pioneer in overseas land and property investments, specialising in the funding of fast-track property developments in Croatia, Cyprus, Spain and France. OPI are constantly searching the globe for outstanding opportunities and are currently evaluating possible ventures in Bulgaria, Dubai, Canada, Florida, Turkey and the Caribbean.
From our roots as a successful UK Property company, OPI has achieved remarkable success by perfecting our project funding model. Whenever possible we take full ownership of the development and negotiate the best possible payment terms, or, alternatively we buy the whole development on an "Off-Plan basis".
Whichever funding strategy we implement, we always seek to limit the initial deposit and look to the local banks and financial institutions to carry the rest of the financing.
This strategic approach substantially reduces the risks traditionally associated with Off-Plan developments and gives OPI's dedicated property sales division sufficient time to sell the projects onwards for substantial profit.
OPI’s capital base has come by way of investment from the public purchasing shares in our UK Plc. By combining our resources we are able to negotiate the purchase of either whole developments or large parts thereof, which allows us to secure the best discounts, unavailable to the individual investor.
OPI’s sister company Property in Britain Plc, was formed 5 years ago, has 195 private investors, and enjoying significant growth in its U.K. and overseas projects. Property in Britain has several large developments in the UK with projects end values of £6 million.
OPI was formed to emulate Property in Britain in the overseas market, utilising our investment modules, knowledge and expertise.
The company has successfully used this initial capitalisation on medium term deals, but is now looking to fund shorter term investments through other vehicles. Hence the launch of Fifty : Fifty Gold & Fifty :Fifty Silver.
Given our prominence in the market, we are constantly offered opportunities from various sources. On every potential deal we carry out our due diligence and if it does not reach our benchmark parameters the deal is rejected.

Drug trafficker suspect skipped out on a $1 million Federal bond

When a drug trafficking suspect skipped out on a $1 million Federal bond, the bail bonds company traced him to Spain by going through his garbage for clues.
Just weeks after posting a $1 million bond, Darli Velazquez-Armas skipped bail. On March 10th, 2007 Federal authorities were alerted that something was wrong when Velazquez’s electronic monitoring bracelet sent a failure signal that the defendant had failed to report home. The huge bond was posted in the U.S. Southern District Federal Court in Miami, Florida. The $1,000,000.00 Federal bond was underwritten by a California bail bond insurance company.
Within days of jumping bond investigators for Bail Yes Bonding, a Miami based Nationwide bail bond company discovered that Velazquez had fled on a private plane to the Dominican Republic out of Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport located in Southwest Miami-Dade County, where from there the case went cold. Veteran bounty hunter Rolando Betancourt was hired by the bail bond company to track down and capture the fugitive. Betancourt went to work in Miami on several leads focusing mainly on the defendant’s parents and ex-wife, all of which had signed as indemnitors on Velazquez's bond. Betancourt directed teams of investigators across several states, coordinating all aspects of the investigation. "We really pulled-out all the stops on this case” said Betancourt, pooling our resources and working closely with government agencies as is typical today for high-risk fugitive recovery operations. Betancourt went as far as renting a garbage truck to make un-scheduled garbage runs at the defendant’s Miami home. One day, fearing they had been spotted, they were forced to pick up the neighbor's garbage down whole length of the street, “It was a real smelly mess”, recalled Betancourt, “but it had to be done”. The early morning garbage runs paid off, amongst the bags of debris were shredded documents that investigators were able to reconstruct yielding a cache of information including used calling cards, bank records, and pages from a First Class in-flight magazine belonging to a European Airline, leading the investigators to believe the defendant was somewhere in Europe, quite possibly the Country of Spain.

Los Alcázares

In Spain, powerful investigating judges lead the way in investigating corruption. They have extensive powers and can imprison anyone they wish to interview. Also involved are the National Police and Guardia Civil who have specialist units that the judges make use of. Money laundering is a prime concern. One big problem for criminals is explaining how they came by their wealth. Washing the cash through seemingly-legitimate enterprises allows it to be used safely. The investigating judges in the Los Alcázares and Totana cases are continuing their work and calling in more and more people for examination. Some are released afterwards and others are released but only on bail. No charges have been brought at this stage so no-one can formally plead either innocence or guilt. Many local people in the two towns are outraged at the investigations. Buses have been used in Totana to take supporters to demonstrations in support of their mayor and in Los Alcázares there were loud shouts of support for the ex-mayor when he was released from custody after being examined. Citizens complain that their communities are being slandered and damaged by the allegations and massive publicity. The case at Los Alcázares is known as Operation Ninette.The investigation is looking into suspicions that transactions in the town relating to property development have been corrupt, with bribery, money laundering and other offences being involved. The former mayor, Juan Escudro, was held in the cells of the National Police station at Cartagena while he was questioned.

Also arrested was the ex-secretary of the Municipal Council, Diego Sánchez Gómez. He has been released on bail. His son is also under investigation.The municipal architect, Mariano Ayuso, is now in prison and answering questions. Two prominent local businessmen are also in prison. There are strong family relationships between some of those being investigated. One woman is suspected of being a front person and she is the second cousin of the ex-mayor and sister in law of the municipal architect. The suspicions are that Juan Antonio Roca had strong links with people in the Los Alcázares town hall, through a company controlled by him. One case that is drawing particular attention involves a plot of rural land known as La Dorada. The town hall reclassified its use and it then passed into the hands of a company which later sold it to another company. In the process the value of the land increased in a few months from 742,000 euros to an estimated two million euros. Other major developments in the area are suspected to be involved with Roca, who is a native of Cartagena and who has a large home in the Los Alcázares area. The corruption investigations involving him in Marbella are still continuing. The Totana case, known as Operation Totem, became public a short time before investigators swooped at Los Alcázares. At Totana the current mayor, José Martínez, is sitting in prison while another investigating judge continues with his work. The former mayor of Totana, and current Regional Assembly Deputy, Juan Morales, is also being questioned.

A prominent local businessman and more than a dozen other people have been interviewed, including the secretary of the Totana town hall and the chief of police. There has been no suggestion of any link between the investigations going on at Totana and the Marbella case. Again, development rights are the prime issue. One aspect is the wish of a company to have re-classified some 2.2 million square meters of rural land for the construction of 5,040 houses. Meanwhile, other investigations into possible wrong doings are taking place at the Murcia towns of Torre Pacheco and Fuente Alamo. In both cases large amounts of documents have been seized and investigations are continuing. Those involved deny any wrongdoing. Near Águilas, a high-profile case involving land at La Zerrichera, is continuing to unfold. This major development was approved by the local town hall despite being in an area protected on environmental grounds and which is a major European bird reserve. Thousands of houses were planned together with golf courses and all the usual urbanisation facilities. The development came to a grinding halt, however, when higher authorities became involved. Just how the plans were approved in the first place is now the subject of detailed investigations. Again, all concerned deny any wrongdoing.

Allan Foster

Allan Foster has been included in a police hit list of the most wanted criminals hiding on Spain's Costa del Sol.
The 33-year-old from South Shields has been on the run since the gangland murder of father-of-seven David 'Noddy' Rice in May 2006.
Now detectives have released the photographs of 10 suspected criminals, including Foster, hiding in the holiday hotspot dubbed 'Costa del Crime'.
They hope the operation, codenamed Captura, a joint initiative between the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the Spanish police authority, will lead to Foster's arrest.
His details have been posted on Crimestoppers' Most Wanted website targeting the region, alongside nine other men wanted for murder, serious violent offences, robbery and for their roles in multi-million pound drug trafficking rings.
Last year, the Gazette revealed how Foster, named by detectives as the man behind the killing of Mr Rice, 42, at Marsden Lea car park, was No 1 on the Crimestoppers' Most Wanted website in the UK and in Spain.

British-registered sailboat 600 kilos

Spanish police have seized 600 kilos (1 320 pounds) of cocaine on a sailboat in the Atlantic bound for Spain in a drugs operation that netted seven suspects, including three Europeans, police said on Saturday.
The cocaine had been transferred to the British-registered sailboat off the coast of the island of Antigua in the Antilles, a police statement said.
Police, who had been following the sailboat since last month, intercepted it between the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira and found on board 600 packets each containing a kilo of cocaine.
Three European crew members from France, Italy and Spain were arrested in the operation. Four others from Colombia, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, picked up by police in Madrid, are suspected of being responsible for the drugs network, police said.