Peaceful protest march in Almeria

peaceful protest march in Almeria
City this Friday, January 9th 2009 - a year exactly after Len and Helen Prior's house
was demolished by the Junta de Andalucía. It's being organised by AULAN, AUAN (both anti-property abuse associations inAlmeria), Ciudadanos Europeos and others. This is our first big opportunity to showthat the arbitrary treatment towards property owners must be stopped.

Immigrant has been shot dead by the Moroccan police when trying to cross the border fence in the Spanish enclave of Melilla

Immigrant has been shot dead by the Moroccan police when trying to cross the border fence in the Spanish enclave of Melilla. The police opened fire against a group of 80 Sub-Saharan people who were storming the fence at Iyasenen, and another 14 people were arrested. The dead man died when on his way to hospital, and the rest of the group managed to escape, but none made the crossing into Spain.There was a similar attack from a group of 150 last November.

18 year old’s arrested in their van at Adra

two 18 year old’s from Melilla were arrested in their van at Adra, Almería after 150 kilos of hashish was found in hidden compartments in their car.

Almería launch was heading to shore with 1,400 kilos of hashish on board.

Four crew from a small launch, two of them underage, have been arrested in Almería.
It happened at 4am on Saturday in the waters of Níjar, close to Punta Polacra. The launch was heading to shore with 1,400 kilos of hashish on board. On the interception by the Maritime Guardia Civil two of those on the launch jumped into the sea in an effort to swim to shore. Both were resuced by the authorities.

Large arms find in Majorca

Spanish police have broken up an arms trafficking gang, seizing nearly 300 weapons as well as 350 kilos of ammunition, police said Friday. Five people were detained in Palma Majorca and in Zamora in the north of the Spanish mainland. They included the owner of an arms store and an expert who repaired used weapons. The confiscated weapons ranged from revolvers to rifles and machine guns. Police also seized mortars and grenade launchers.

€50m had been stolen from account at Barclays in Marbella between 2001 and 2003.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Thani,had €50m stolen from account at Barclays in Marbella between 2001 and 2003. Last month Barclays was reportedly ordered to post €20m as security with a Spanish court as part of a legal battle. At the time a settlement was said to be still some way off after a letter from the sheikh in the summer which vowed he would pursue every legal route possible to recover his money.
The sheikh claims a former employee set up a bank account at Barclays' Marbella branch, using his own name and the sheikh's. The sheikh claims he had no knowledge of this and his signature was forged. It is alleged money from another of his accounts was siphoned to the joint account, and later withdrawn or transferred to Monaco, the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland.

Marbella,Three Brits were arrested and another was on the run

Three Brits were arrested and another was on the run last night after police in Spain seized almost four tonnes of hashish in a raid on a Costa del Sol warehouse.
Spanish drugs squad officers swooped on the industrial unit in Antequera, near Malaga, earlier yesterday before arresting the three suspects.A fourth British man was cornered during a similar raid on an apartment building in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella, but he managed to escape through a first-floor window and was still at large, police officials said.A drugs squad officer said: "We carried out the raid after a tip-off and made one of the largest drugs seizures of the past 12 months."Three British men resident on the Costa del Sol are being held in custody facing charges for drugs trafficking."The officer confirmed: "A fourth British man, who is believed to be connected to the other three, escaped and is still on the run."

32-year-old man who reported feeling unwell to the medical services yesterday morning was found to be carrying 78 capsules of cocaine in his body

32-year-old man who reported feeling unwell to the medical services yesterday morning was found to be carrying 78 capsules of cocaine in his body, a total weight of 854 grams. The man sought medical assistance in arrivals in Reina Sofia airport, and admitted that he was carrying drugs within his person. He was immediately transferred to a Santa Cruz hospital, where he was operated upon to remove the drugs. He is still in hospital under Guardia Civil arrest.

Leighton Richardson arrested in Tenerife after his girlfriend was found dying in a pool of blood at her apartment has been released

Leighton Richardson arrested in Tenerife after his girlfriend was found dying in a pool of blood at her apartment has been released from custody after being held since Christmas Eve.Before making his bail decision the judge studied police information which – despite earlier reports – said no baseball bat had been found at her flat.
But while investigations continue Leighton Richardson, born in Wrexham and who grew up in Mold, remains a suspect.He has been ordered to report daily to the court at Arona, on the holiday island’s south coast, where the investigating judge in charge of the case is based.Richardson has also had to surrender his passport to the court.
He was arrested in the early hours of Christmas Eve after Lisa McConway, 28, from Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland, was found by police at her flat in the brash resort of Playa de las Americas.She was in a critical condition and had severe bruising to much of her body.She was rushed to hospital but died at 1pm that day.Reports said police had gone to the flat after neighbours telephoned just after 3am to report a violent row was taking place.

The investigating judge decided to grant Richardson “provisional liberty” – the Spanish term for bail – after studying a written report by pathologists following an autopsy.

The experts were reported as concluding Miss McConway, who had a British passport, could have died either as the result of a beating or following a fall, it was reported yesterdayAlthough her injuries were consistent with an attack the autopsy revealed she suffered from a blood clotting condition which could cause extensive bruising as the result of a fall, court sources told local journalists.Before making his bail decision the judge had also studied a police report which despite earlier reports said that no baseball bat had been found at Miss McConway’s flat.Nor had any witnesses been found to back-up the claim reportedly made by the initial caller a serious row had taken place.
But two witnesses had said earlier Miss McConway had been “drinking a lot” and they had seen her “drunk”. The witnesses said she had fallen down opening a gash in her head.For his part

Richardson had emphatically denied throughout his time in police custody and later at a closed door hearing in front of the investigating judge he had beaten Miss McConway.

Following Miss McConway’s death Jose Antonio Batista, the Spanish Interior Ministry representative in Tenerife, described the scene which greeted officers at her apartment as a “Dantesque spectacle”.He was quoted as telling local reporters: “All the furniture was overturned and there was blood on the floor and the walls.”The official also said Miss McConway had telephoned Richardson, who lived elsewhere, at 3am last Wednesday to say she felt unwell. The boyfriend arrived shortly afterwards at her flat.Reports yesterday said the couple’s young son would be handed over to Richardson on his release.

Family of Lisa McConway are due to arrive on the island early next week to take care of her young son and fly her body home

family of Lisa McConway, the 28-year-old woman bludgeoned to death in Playa de Las Américas on Christmas Eve, are due to arrive on the island early next week to take care of her young son and fly her body home.Lisa McConway died after being attacked with a baseball bat in her apartment in Palo Blanco in the early hours of the morning. Neighbours say they heard a massive row in the apartment before her body was found

Fuengirola Mafia boss arrested

Guardia Civil officers, in collaboration with the Italian Arma de Carabinieri, have arrested a 44-year-old member of the mafia-like criminal organisation, the Camorra, in Fuengirola. The man is an important member of the Clan Mariano of the Naples Camorra, and has had an arrest warrant on him for 17 years.The police operation was launched thanks to information the Guardia Civil received from the Arma de Carabinieri. The intelligence revealed that an important Camorra hitman who had escaped from Italy could be living on the Costa del SolOfficers from the Guardia Civil’s Team Against Organised Crime (ECO) along with Carabinieri officers from Naples in Italy searched for the man in areas where they suspected he was. The officers knew that the suspect was living on the Costa del Sol and used public cyber-cafés to contact other members of the Camorra.The camorrist was finally arrested at the entrance of a cyber-café thanks to a picture provided by the Arma de Carabinieri.

Captured Trainer gang which smuggles coke into Spain

The drugs were being smuggled from Argentina concealed inside specially adapted shoes that were worn by a couple in their late fifties who were arrested at Valencia's Manises airport on Christmas Day after stepping off a plane from Buenos Aires in possession of 1.6kg of uncut cocaine.

Five members of a gang that has been smuggling cocaine into Spain by hiding it inside training shoes, have been arrested. The couple's two sons and a third individual responsible have since also been detained. It seems that the gang has been operating for some time and also trafficked a variety of other recreational drugs for sale in the Balearic Islands, mainly Ibiza.

Paul Hickey is currently serving 15 years at Fontcalent jail, one of Spain's toughest penitentiaries.

Hickey, is currently serving 15 years at Fontcalent jail, one of Spain's toughest penitentiaries.Sandra Conroy said she would block any attempt by Paul Hickey to move to an Irish prison for the rest of his sentence.He was sentenced in November when he admitted battering Celine (26) to death at their holiday home on the Costa Del Sol three years ago. He can apply to be transferred to an Irish prison, but this would have to be approved by both the Spanish and Irish authorities."I'm still in contact with my solicitor, it's still not over for me," Sandra said."I'll keep up the fight if there is any way they can even consider letting him come home. If it's the courts or the Dail, I'll tie myself to the railings if I have to to keep him in Spain."
Sandra remains sceptical about claims Hickey (31) has made about being stabbed repeatedly in jail.She said she was sickened by a recent press interview he gave complaining of conditions at the notorious prison."He said he'd been stabbed in prison, but I didn't see any marks on him when he was in court," Sandra said. "It was all about himself and how hard he was having it."Meanwhile, Sandra has said she is still haunted by Hickey's sneering attitude as he was sentenced.The family spent Christmas together and visited Celine's grave in Glasnevin.

National Police and the Guardia Civil have reported that the charred body of a man has been found in a burned out vehicle

National Police and the Guardia Civil have reported that the charred body of a man has been found in a burned out vehicle in inland from Villajoyosa .The car and body were found on a piece of wasteland last Tuesday in an area known as Partida Ripalmes .The identity of the man remains unknown and the police have not released any further details .Both the National Police and the Guardia Civil have joined forces to try and solve the possible crime .It is possible that the death was an accident but it could also be murder .A post -mortem will be carried out this week .

Guardia Civil are looking for two un-named British people in connection with the disappearance a year ago of the Irish youngster Amy Fitzpatrick

Diario Sur newspaper reports that the Guardia Civil are looking for two un-named British people in connection with the disappearance a year ago of the Irish youngster Amy Fitzpatrick from Mijas Costa. One of the people wanted for questioning is a man, another a woman, and both are said to be in the United Kingdom although it is reported that they don’t know each other. They are under investigation at the request of Amy’s family.Amy’s mother Audrey says in an interview with the paper that it has been the longest year of her life, and that it is impossible to stop thinking about Amy. She says she is living a nightmare but has not given up hope of being reunited with her daughter.

Lisa McConway, who has family living in Dublin, was found unconscious at her home . Irish woman, resident on Tenerife

The 28 year woman, named as Lisa McConway, who has family living in Dublin, was found unconscious at her home near Playa de las Americas in Tenerife.She died this afternoon after allegedly being hit by her boyfriend with a baseball bat, which the aggressor then through out the window.British woman, resident on Tenerife, is the victim of the latest domestic violence tragedy in Spain.Her beaten body was found in Urbanisation Palo Blanco in Playa de las Américas in the south of Tenerife, after neighbours heard the fight and called 091, and reports indicate that she died from her injuries on the way to hospital. The alleged aggressor, also British, was arrested at the scene and police say there were signs of a fight in several rooms of the flat.The case is being instructed by Court Number 7 in Arona.Police have arrested the woman's boyfriend who has been named as Leighton Richardson.The 28-year-old, who has been named as Lisa M, was discovered in an apartment block in the Playa de las Americas resort.According to statements made by her boyfriend, the victim phoned him at around 3am GMT on Wednesday morning and asked him to go to her apartment because she was feeling ill.
After the boyfriend arrived at the flat in the Pala Blanco housing development, the couple are believed to have had a fight.Police were called when neighbours heard a violent row.It is thought that the woman, who had been beaten with a baseball bat, had suffered a cardiac arrest.She was taken to a local hospital where she died at around midday Christmas Day.A post-mortem examination has taken place but the results have not yet been released.Her boyfriend has been arrested after apparently giving conflicting statements to police, and for the marks on the woman's body.Further details of her identity have not yet been released as Foreign Office staff attempt to contact her family.Her father Jim McConway, speaking from the family home in Blackrock in Dublin last night, said they had received very little information about the death

Leighton Richardson

Spanish police smashed an international drug ring that trafficked cocaine from Peru to Israel and via several other countries, including Spain.

Spanish police smashed an international drug ring that trafficked cocaine from Peru to Israel and via several other countries, including Spain.Port of Barcelona authorities, as part of a joint operation with Peruvian, Israeli, U.S. and Bahamas police, seized 674 kilograms of cocaine shipped from Peru on a vessel bound for Jordan’s Aqaba port. The drugs had been stuffed into an industrial paper shredder.
In early December, Caribbean, Peruvian and Spanish police intercepted cocaine shipments hidden in lead-plated heavy machinery designed to fool airport x-ray security scans.A month prior, Peru’s police drug enforcement unit, Dirandro, carried out four simultaneous raids in Lima’s districts of Miraflores, Ate, Chorrillos and San Isidro, seizing more than half a ton of cocaine. Five people were arrested, including four Peruvians and an Israeli national.Spain is Europe’s main entry point for cocaine from South America, although large quantities are now transported via West Africa. And, according to a UN Office on Drugs and crime report published in January, Spain has become the top consumer of cocaine in continental Europe.

65-year-old father Robert Orchard had done a deal with drug-traffickers in his home town of Marbella.

65-year-old father Robert Orchard had done a deal with drug-traffickers in his home town of Marbella.He agreed to hide the drugs under the bed on which Cheyrl, of Denny, Stirlingshire, and her eight-year-old son had been sleeping.On Monday a jury at Canterbury Crown Court consisting of seven women and five men found her not guilty of drug importation.Her father pleaded guilty.Innocent Cheyrl was flown out to the Costa Del Crime by her father, but while she was sunbathing the gang was stashing the chocolate-coloured blocks into the camper-van.Robert Orchard cynically took the pair to EuroDisney knowing full well they were sleeping only inches above the consignment.Cheyrl told the court she knew nothing of her father’s plot to smuggle the drugs through Europe to Ireland.After the jury unanimously found her not guilty, she spoke of her loathing of the father who risked her freedom in a sordid drugs deal.She said: “I thought it was a routine Customs stop. I had no idea there were drugs on board.“I have only contempt for my father, who used us. It is
supposed to be the time of goodwill to all men, but I doubt if any goodwill I have will extend to him.“As far as I’m concerned I haven’t got a father and my son hasn’t got a grandfather.“I thought the authorities were going to take my boy away from me. I couldn’t think about Christmas, but now I’ll be able to celebrate it with my son.
“I don’t care about my dad – he’ll be spending his Christmas behind bars.”But it wasn’t all comfort and joy for Cheyrl as she was fined £200 for breaking her bail by smoking in a prohibited area outside the front door of the court on Friday.She apologised and told Judge Michael O’Sullivan she had been under a great deal of strain.The judge accepted her apology but told her the restriction was put in place to stop her accidently bumping into jurors.Robert Orchard is due to be sentenced next week.

British man stabbed during shooting incident near Tarragona thought the shooting, which involved four people, was linked to drug trafficking

British person has been injured in a shooting incident in L’Ametlla de Mar in Tarragona today, in which a German man has died. The 33 year old German was shot in the thorax and abdomen and suffered a heart attack.Spanish police think the shooting which involved four people in total was a settling of scores related to drug trafficking. An Italian is seriously hurt after being shot in the neck. He made his own way to the local health centre from where he was taken by helicopter to the Joan XXIII hospital in Tarragona where he has had surgery.
The Briton was stabbed in the thorax and treated in a local ambulance. His involvement in the affair is still being investigated and as yet he has not been arrested.It happened at 4,30pm on Monday in a chalet in Calle Rovelló, in the Sant Jordi Alfama urbanisation in L’Ametlla.All four men involved in the shooting and stabbing were living locally and reports say some of them have a previous record for drug trafficking.

Santander Europe’s second- biggest bank by market value, may drop after saying its hedge fund unit invested 2.33 billion euros with Bernard Madoff

Europe’s second- biggest bank by market value, may drop after saying its hedge fund unit invested 2.33 billion euros ($3.1 billion) of client funds with Bernard Madoff, who allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme that cost investors $50 billion.
Santander’s Optimal Investment Services unit placed money with Madoff through its Optimal Strategic U.S. Equity fund, the Spanish lender said in a statement yesterday. France’s BNP Paribas SA may lose 350 million euros and Swiss private bank Reichmuth & Co. could have $330 million of losses as Madoff’s scheme reaches victims across the Atlantic Ocean. “People are going to take it badly in the market,” said Alberto Espelosin, who helps manage the equivalent of $7.7 billion at Zaragoza, Spain-based Ibercaja Gestion. “It’s not Santander’s own money, and they’re not to blame, but of course it will be taken as something negative.” Santander, based in the Spanish city of the same name, lost 53 percent of its market value this year. Madoff, 70, who had advised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on how to regulate markets, was arrested Dec. 11 and charged with operating what he described as “one big lie.”

arsonists fire-bombed the home of the family of a Spanish man, Rafael Hidalgo Castro, who has been in jail since December 1st accused of murder

Police are fearing a backlash of reprisals against the family, who were forced to abandon their home several days ago.
Nobody was injured last Saturday night when arsonists fire-bombed the home of the family of a Spanish man, Rafael Hidalgo Castro, who has been in jail since December 1st accused of the murder of a Gypsy man, 51-year-old José Reyes, on November 9th.
The victim's son is calling for calm and said that those responsible for the attack "are not doing us any favours in our struggle for justice for our father's murder. We are not looking for revenge. If we had, we would already have exacted it." The incident took place in Santiago, one of the poorest districts of Bujalance and home to both Spanish and Gypsy families. At the time of the murder, Castro had been on the run since February 2006, when he failed to return to jail after being granted an eight-hour pass to visit his sick mother, and since when police suspect him of committing around 25 other offences. Local mayor, Rafael Cañete, described the incident as "totally deplorable, adding that: "If we start down this violent path, nothing will get resolved. Rafi's family has not done anything and the Talion Law of an eye for an eye is not the solution."

Santander Group admitted yesterday that it has €2.3 billion euros invested in the firm managed by Bernard Madoff, who was arrested last week

Pedro Solbes has described the impact of the Madoff investment fraud as "of very little concern for the Spanish market." Speaking to the press following the 'Spain in the IMF and the World Bank: a 50-year relationship' conference in Madrid, Mr Solbes said that, at the moment, the only figures available indicate that the total amount lost by Spanish finance companies may be as little as €38 million euros although he informed that the Spanish stock market watchdog, the CNMV, is undertaking a "specific analysis." According to the Economy minister, the three Spanish insurance companies affected by the scam have lost €2 million euros while nine pension funds have been affected to the tune of €36mn, equivalent to only around 0.04% of their total investments. The total value of the fraud worldwide is estimated at around €37.4 billion ($50 billion US dollars), and has been described as "the biggest financial scandal, possibly in the history of the markets".
Mr Solbes concluded by saying that the Madoff case is further proof that the "systems of financial supervision and control are failing in some countries."
Notwithstanding, the Santander Group admitted yesterday that it has €2.3 billion euros invested in the firm managed by Bernard Madoff, who was arrested last week and charged with fraud while the BBVA bank estimates its losses at around €30 million.

Mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick says she won't be celebrating Christmas this year as she continues to wait for news

THE mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick says she won't be celebrating Christmas this year as she continues to wait for news of her daughter's disappearance.Amy vanished on the evening of January 1 this year, when she left her friend's house in the tourist resort of Riviera Del Sol in Spain's Costa Del Sol, to walk the 15-minute journey home. Mother Audrey Fitzpatrick said: "As well as not being able to do it myself, I don't want to ruin it for my family as well."
She said Amy's accent had changed since the family's move to Spain. "Since living here in Spain, Amy has developed a very strong English accent as all her friends are English. So people may make the mistake of thinking that she has an Irish accent, she doesn't."She was speaking to RTE's 'Crimecall' which travelled to Spain to talk to Ms Fitzpatrick and her partner, Dave Mahon, as they continue their search for Amy. More information is available at www.missingamy.com.'Crimecall' is broadcast tonight on RTE One at 10.15pm.

Man has been arrested after being stopped by a Guardia Civil traffic control in Fasnia for possession of cocaine

45-year-old man has been arrested after being stopped by a Guardia Civil traffic control in Fasnia for possession of cocaine intended for sale. His nervousness gave him away after being pulled over for a routine check, and officers searched his vehicle. They found a bag with 14 grams of cocaine and a weighing scales.

Spain's largest bank Santander said customers of its hedge fund Optimal have an exposure of €2.33 billion to the alleged fraud committed by Madoff.

Spain's largest bank Santander said customers of its hedge fund Optimal have an exposure of €2.33 billion to the alleged fraud committed Madoff. The bank, Europe's second largest by market capitalisation, also said it had invested €17 million of its own funds in Madoff products. “The exposure of Santander customers in Optimal Strategic is €2.33 billion, of which €2.01 billion is from institutional investors and customers from private international banking,” it said in a statement. Madoff was arrested last week for allegedly defrauding his customers through a giant pyramid scheme, with prosecutors alleging that the 70-year-old, a decades-long veteran of Wall Street, confessed to losing at least $US50 billion ($75 billion) in the so-called Ponzi scheme. Madoff's company, Bernard L. Mr Madoff Investment Securities, attracted “the world's financial aristocracy,” said the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Among his clients were international banks as well as discreet private banks and companies involved in managing the fortunes of a single wealthy family. French bank BNP Paribas said it could lose up to €350 million in the scandal. BNP Paribas said that it had no direct investment with Madoff's company but “it does have risk exposure to these funds through its trading business and collateralised lending to funds of hedge funds”. “If, as a result of the alleged fraud, the value of the assets of these hedge funds is nil, BNP Paribas' loss could amount to around €350 million,” the bank said. Swiss bankers face losses of up to $US5 billion, Geneva's Le Temps newspaper said. It said that Union Bancaire Privee, a major asset management institution specialising in hedge funds, could be exposed to the tune of $US1 billion. UBP refused to comment on the report, which said that 90 per cent of fund management companies operating in Geneva invested in Madoff products.Among the small Swiss private banks,Reichmuth & Co warned investors that around Swiss francs 385 million ($493 million), or 3.5 per cent, of its assets under management, were affected by exposure to the alleged pyramid scheme run by Madoff.
In a letter to investors, the Luzern-based private bank said that its Matterhorn fund of hedge funds has exposure to several hedge funds which could be affected by the scheme. "Provided the mentioned hedge funds will have to face a total loss, the performance impact on Reichmuth Matterhorn would amount to 8.6 per cent," the bank said in the letter. Another Spanish fund manager, MandB Capital Advisor, headed by the son of Santander president Emilio Botin, could also be exposed up to hundreds of millions of US dollars. In the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, Spanish investors had exposure of between €1.3 and €2.6 billion. In London, an investment fund that counted itself a client of Mr Madoff criticised the “systemic failure” of regulators in the United States. Bramdean Alternatives said the accusations against Madoff raised “fundamental questions” about the American financial regulatory system. “It is astonishing that this apparent fraud seems to have been continuing for so long, possibly for decades, while investors have continued to invest more money into the Madoff funds in good faith,” the firm said in a statement. Bramdean Alternatives invested around £21 million ($47 million), or around 9.5 per cent of its portfolio, with Madoff's company. Several British newspapers reported that among Bramdean's clients is property magnate Vincent Tchenguiz, one of Britain's richest men, who apparently invested £40 million pounds with the firm. A spokeswoman for Royal Bank of Scotland said that the bank had “some exposure” to Madoff's company, but declined to give details. Europe's largest bank, HSBC, meanwhile, declined to confirm any relationship with the alleged fraudster. Rumours talk of £400 millions lost.

FORGERY DISTRIBUTION GANG linked to the Italian mafia have been arrested in Alicante

FORGERY DISTRIBUTION GANG linked to the Italian mafia have been arrested in Alicante for dealing and spending counterfeit Euros.The gang are alleged to have purchased the fake cash from the Calabresa Mafia at a price between 30% and 40% of the face value of the notes. They then spent the money in local markets and small shops across the region.The Guardia Civil say they have arrested a total of 20 people in relation to the case, in Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga, Almería and Lugo, and that the notes were also distributed in Portugal and the North of Africa. 150,000 € worth of 20 and 50€ notes were recovered by the Guardia Civil, in an investigation which started at the end of last year.It’s thought the gang has distributed as much as a million fake Euros since being established.

Spanish investors could have up to 3 billion euros ($3.98 billion) of exposure to funds managed by Wall Street trader Bernard Madoff,

Spanish investors could have up to 3 billion euros ($3.98 billion) of exposure to funds managed by Wall Street trader Bernard Madoff, accused of masterminding a fraud of up to $50 billion, Expansion said on Saturday. 'The first estimates suggest both groups (large fortunes and Spanish funds) could have invested more than 3 billion euros in vehicles managed by Madoff,' the financial daily said without naming its sources. Investors in hedge fund Optimal, run by Spain's largest bank Santander, Santander's private banking subsidiary Banif, M&B Advisers Gestion (M&B Capital Advisers) and Spain's second largest bank BBVA were among those affected, the same sources told the paper. A spokesman for BBVA said BBVA customers in Spain were not exposed to the fraud. 'BBVA has not commercialised in its network of retail clients or private banking in Spain products managed or deposited in Madoff Investment Securities,' he said. A spokesman for Santander declined to comment on whether it had exposure. Santander's Optimal has commercialised more than $3 billion dollars of Madoff funds, the newspaper ABC said, citing data from Bloomberg. Two funds of M&B Capital Advisers have $578 million invested in a Madoff hedge fund, ABC said, citing Bloomberg data. No one was available to comment at M&B Capital Advisers.

Daniel Paul Johnston and Keith Burke have been arrested

28 year old Daniel Paul Johnston and 47 year old Keith Burke have been arrested in what is more success for the crimestoppers campaign.Both men were on the top 30 most wanted list, with Johnston found in the Sevilla village of Pruna following a tip-off. He is reported to have been living there as a handyman. He’s wanted for armed raids in Derbyshire in 2004 and 2005 and is expected to return to England for questioning.Keith Burke, known as ‘Tattooed Keith’ because of a devil and swallow tattoos on his neck, is wanted in connection with an attack on a bar near Doncaster in 2001.

Alan Dickson, 37, from Falkland in Fife, masterminded an operation to smuggle over one million pounds worth of cannabis into Scotland from Spain.

Alan Dickson, 37, from Falkland in Fife, masterminded an operation to smuggle over one million pounds worth of cannabis into Scotland from Spain. In 2002 he was caught and jailed for ten years. However, he allegedly fled Castle Huntly jail four years later. This month he was returned to Scotland after being discovered in the Costa Del Sol. He appeared on petition from custody at Perth Sheriff Court accused of walking out of the jail on 28 December 2006 and spending two years on the run.
He is also accused of defeating the ends of justice by absconding from the jail while serving a ten-year sentence imposed at the High Court in Edinburgh on 5 March 2002. Dickson made a brief appearance in private and made no plea or declaration in relation to the absconding charge. He was fully committed for trial and remanded in custody after making no application for bail. In 2002, the High Court in Edinburgh heard how Dickson was the head of a gang smuggling cannabis to Scotland from his home in holiday resort Torremelinos. Dickson, who was also jailed for five years for drug trafficking in 1997, dispatched couriers with suitcases packed with cannabis resin from his apartment.

Icod de los Vinos Guardia Civil have arrested a 22-year-old woman for possession of 29 bags of cocaine

Icod de los Vinos Guardia Civil have arrested a 22-year-old woman for possession of 29 bags of cocaine amounting to 15 grams which she is presumed to have intended to sell. The woman was caught on the TF5 by a checkpoint, and the cocaine was seized along with 160€ which is thought likely to be the proceeds of previous sales.