Expat Gangsters visiting or living on the Costas

John `The Coach' Traynor (52)
Traynor strenuously denies allegations that he set up crime reporter Veronica Guerin for her murder.Garda and criminal sources allege that Traynor travels regularly between southern Spain, Amsterdam and Brussels to organise large-scale cannabis deals. Traynor, a former fraudster and associate of `The General', Martin Cahill, is believed to have made and spent a fortune from his involvement in the hash trade between 1994 and October 1996. In a phone interview with this reporter he denied that he had any part in Guerin's death.

Peter Mitchell (33)
Mitchell, from Dublin's north inner city, was alleged during two trials to be a member of the biggest cannabis gang that operated in Ireland in the mid-1990s.
Now based in Fuengirola, Spain, Mitchell is wanted by Gardai in connection with his alleged role in the gang. Mitchell and Traynor are believed to be in regular contact.

George `The Penguin' Mitchell (51)
Ballyfermot-born armed robber-turned-cannabis and ecstasy dealer Mitchell is unlikely ever to return home, as the Gardaí, the British police and the IRA are all keen to speak to him if he returns from Amsterdam, where he allegedly continues to run his hash business.Mitchell, a suspected member of the £30 million Beit art robbery gang led by Martin Cahill in the 1980s, served 18 months in jail since he left Ireland in 1996 after being caught during a robbery of computers in Holland. He is reportedly worth €15.3 million. Mitchell was accused in his absence in a court in London of being the organiser of a botched gangland hit on gangster Tony Brindle, a rival of the infamous Daly crime clan. Sources close to Mitchell have denied he was involved.

Tommy Savage (51)
Savage phoned Garda detectives from Amsterdam four years ago and said he had no part in the shooting dead of ex-INLA man Paddy `Teasy Weasy' McDonald in 1992.
However, because of newspaper reports about his alleged cannabis dealing, he has not returned because he says he would not get a fair trial.Savage, a former member of the Official IRA -- the old paramilitary wing of the Workers' Party -- was sentenced to nine years in Portlaoise for armed robbery in the 1970s. A number of his former colleagues have suffered violent deaths. In 1983 Danny McKeown was shot dead outside a Dublin dole office. Later that year Gerry Hourigan was killed in Ballymun. Michael Crinnion was murdered in Cork in 1995. Savage is believed to be close to George Mitchell.

Mick `The Corporal' Weldon (48)
Gardai have sought Weldon since 1993, when he fled the country as detectives prepared to bring him before the Special Criminal Court. He was found by Gardai with a gun allegedly in his possession.Weldon reportedly has his own plane and pilot's licence, and frequently flies to Colombia and Surinam. It is claimed by Garda sources that the former Irish Army corporal from Swords is one of the biggest cannabis barons in Europe.One criminal who knows Weldon insisted: "Mick is just like one of the lads who does a bit of this and that -- he's not an international gangster."Weldon's whereabouts are uncertain. He was last sighted in the Costa del Sol.

Seamus Ward
Ward was named during a trial two years ago as being a member of the same cannabis gang as Peter Mitchell. Ward, from Walkinstown, Dublin, has been missing since October 1996. Gardai believe he may be in the Costa del Sol, but criminal sources claim he is living in southern England.

Jim McCann
Jim "Just call me the Shamrock Pimpernel" McCann is wanted all over the world for a variety of crimes, and is regarded as a colourful figure in the underworld.
The reformed cannabis smuggler Howard Marks wrote in his autobiography that McCann mixed with unsuspecting IRA men and Hollywood actors like James Coburn during his heyday in the 1980s.McCann, originally from Belfast, in 1971 became the first man in decades to escape from Crumlin Road jail, where he was on remand for petrol-bombing Queen's University.
In the intervening period he linked up with international cannabis dealer Marks, while still trading on his reputation as a revolutionary. In 1977 he was arrested in France for extradition to Germany for allegedly bombing a British Army base in Moenchengladbach. A subsequent case failed, thanks largely to protests by French political radicals. Next he turned up in Naas, when Gardai caught him with nearly £100,000 worth of cannabis. When arrested, he would only say: "My name is Mr Nobody. My address is The World."McCann was later freed by the Garda on a technicality. He was last seen in Argentina.

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Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has vowed to end its reputation as a villains' bolt hole.

Turkish Cypriot detectives are accustomed to receiving tip-offs from their British counterparts about notorious criminal underworld figures who are heading for the island. Ever since Turkey invaded the north more than 30 years ago, the sun-baked coastline has been a haven for villains happy to exploit the impotence of extradition warrants in an occupied territory.
But as leaders from both the Turkish north and Greek south prepare for next month's talks aimed at uniting the island, the self- proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has vowed to end its reputation as a villains' bolt hole. Ferdi Soyer, the prime minister, told The Times that Britons seeking sanctuary from justice would be deported. The attempt to improve northern Cyprus's international reputation has been welcomed by the Foreign Office and by British police forces, which believe that 15 fugitives are living there. The authorities have been repeatedly embarrassed by the likes of Kenneth Noye, who laundered proceeds of the the Brink's-Mat robbery, and Sean Lupton, a suspect in the £53million Securitas robbery, both of whom were traced to the island. Mr Soyer issued a warning yesterday to criminals who consider northern Cyprus a haven. Sitting in his Nicosia office beneath a portrait of Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, Mr Soyer said: “To British criminals, I say: ‘Do not think of coming to northern Cyprus'. “Some think that they can save themselves from justice here. They are thinking wrongly. When we receive information from the British about fugitives here we will arrest them and hand them over to Britain. They are not welcome here.” A few miles away, at police headquarters, Commander Mehmet Ozdamar, first assistant to the TRNC police commander, echoed that sentiment. “Even though the TRNC is not recognised by any government and has no extradition treaty with Britain, we have identified and arrested criminals who have fled here and sent them back. There's no safe haven for criminals here.”
The words are no idle threat. In the past year, two wanted Britons were seized by Turkish Cypriot police, escorted on to flights back to Britain and handed over to Scotland Yard. Peter Roberts, 72, nicknamed “Maggot Pete” for selling diseased poultry, was deported after being spotted working at a car-hire firm. He is now serving a six-year sentence.
Miran Thakrar, 24, was returned to Britain and jailed for 42 years for murdering three men over a cocaine deal in Hertfordshire. Turkish Cypriot police traced him after he boasted in the island's British-style pubs about the shootings. This year Lupton, 47, skipped bail and travelled to the island, where he allegedly tried to launder some of Securitas's missing £32 million in the 45 casinos. The Times established that he had been living in northern Cyprus. When he heard that two Kent detectives were on their way to arrest him he fled across the UN buffer zone and on to Israel. Eight years earlier Noye, now 61, also left his retreat after discovering that diplomatic negotiations would secure his deportation. He was subsequently arrested in Spain. Brian Brendan Wright, the drug baron known as the Milkman because he “always delivered”, took a private jet to Cyprus but fled the island when the authorities realised who he was, having observed that he was moving vast sums of money through their banking system. He was picked up in Spain and jailed last year.
Some suspected criminals, however, are harder to banish. Asil Nadir, who fled to northern Cyprus in 1990 to escape criminal charges after his Polly Peck business empire collapsed, enjoys his freedom because he is a Turkish Cypriot by birth and runs much of the pro-TRNC media. Gary Robb, a suspected drug dealer, has ploughed millions of pounds into an as-yet unfinished building project. The TRNC authorities would prefer him to complete the job before considering his deportation.
Mr Ozdamar is undeterred. He flicks though a file on British criminals as he explains how his officers have testified in the British courts - and how British detectives have returned the favour. Last year a van full of exhibits from Staffordshire arrived in Nicosia to help to secure the conviction of Kemal Kemalzade, a Turkish Cypriot who set fire to his newsagent's business in Stoke-on-Trent in an insurance scam in which a man died. Knowing that he could not be deported from his homeland, he went to northern Cyprus. But judges there agreed to try him and Kemalzade is now serving a ten-year jail sentence in Nicosia. Mr Ozdamar bristles with pride, too, as he explains how intelligence given by his officers to Britain led to the seizure of 350kg of heroin and 13 convictions in British courts.
The Foreign Office, which will not recognise northern Cyprus, welcomed its attempts to clean up its reputation. “We applaud the Turkish Cypriots' determination to ensure that the northern part of Cyprus is not a haven for fugitives from justice,” a spokesman said.

A European Union diplomatic source added: “It is very positive if fugitives are returned from north Cyprus. It seems that the Turkish Cypriot community wants to improve its international reputation and demonstrate its adherence to European standards.

“With a reunification process under way in Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot community is keen to demonstrate that it takes its international responsibilities seriously.”

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass, the Ulster Unionist and Turkophile who has had a holiday home in northern Cyprus for 24 years - and who has often helped British detectives to trace fugitives there - believes the TRNC should be recognised. “The word has got out among Britain's criminal underworld that the political situation in Cyprus means they can use the loophole in the law to their advantage. It is terribly frustrating for British police forces. But things are changing.” With prospects growing of a political solution to the Cyprus problem - Europe's most intractable dispute - the remaining British fugitives could be forced to flee if EU extradition warrants come into force.
Mr Soyer believes that the TRNC should be allowed to come in from the cold, allowing Cyprus to show the world that Muslim Turks and Christian Greeks can live side by side - to say nothing of the impact that the end of the trade embargo would have on the north's ailing economy.
But Mr Ozdamar raises a hand to block questions about how a peace settlement would affect fugitives still in the north. “There is more and more organised and international crime across the globe. So, police departments all around the world should work together against all types of crimes now. Police are not politicians.”

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42-year-old man was arrested in Málaga yesterday three hours after phoning to warn that a bomb had been placed on a Swiss International Airbus 321

42-year-old man was arrested in Málaga yesterday three hours after phoning to warn that a bomb had been placed on a Swiss International Airbus 321 travelling from from Zurich to Málaga. None of the 141 passengers were injured as they were made to evacuate the plane at Geneva airport using the emergency escape chutes. As a result of the incident, the runway was closed for around ninety minutes, forcing eight other flights to be either cancelled or diverted to Lyon.
The man, who was seized at his home on the Avenida Salvador Allende, has been charged with public disorder

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Murder inquiry after a man was shot dead in Finglas last night.The shooting follows a gun attack in Marbella

Murder inquiry after a man was shot dead in Finglas last night.The shooting follows a gun attack in Marbella in Spain last Thursday night in which Peter Mitchell, a former associate of convicted drug dealer John Gilligan, was shot and injured. Two bystanders were also hurt in the attack.
Two masked raiders armed with handguns burst into a busy pub and opened fire as mourners attended a function following a funeral.Gardai said they singled out their victims in the upstairs of the Jolly Toper bar before shooting them a number of times.The dead man was named locally as Paul Martin.Detectives believe the attackers fled the scene in a dark coloured car driven by a third man who had been waiting on Church Street before making off towards the Finglas Road.Superintendent John Harnett, Finglas Garda station, said a car was later found nearby and is undergoing a technical examination.The two men were rushed to the Mater hospital where Mr Martin, who was in his late 30s, died a short time later.The second man, aged 33, is in a stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery at the Mater.A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out on the dead man at the Dublin City Morgue.
Gardai said one attacker was just over 6ft while the other was just under 6ft.
Both men were slim and wearing dark coloured clothing.Supt Harnett refused to say whether the shooting was linked to drug crime or if the dead man had previous criminal convictions but it is understood the attack was linked to a local gangland dispute.Gardai have received information from people in the pub at the time, he added.“We have received great co-operation so far and we are appealing for anyone with information to contact us,” Supt Harnett said.

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Gangland Warfare hits the Costas Russian mafia and British gangsters, have fought for control of the lucrative drugs trade in southern Spain

Gangland war against Dublin criminal John Gilligan has shifted to Spain’s Costa del Sol. Gardai believe that the attempted murder of a former member of Gilligan’s drugs gang in Andalusia was linked to threats against the crime boss. Peter Mitchell was shot outside a bar on a complex in Puerto Banus, near Marbella.Two other people wounded in the shooting were innocent bystanders from Ireland, says the Republic’s Department of Foreign Affairs. One of the two other victims was a 73-year-old Irishman.Spanish police were waiting yesterday to interview 39-year-old Mitchell, who is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries. Mitchell, who fled to Spain in 1996, had been one of a number of gangsters targeted in a major state operation against the Gilligan gang.Security sources in the Republic last night linked the murder bid on the Spanish coast to a new campaign by rival Irish criminals against Gilligan and his associates.Earlier this month it was revealed that Gilligan was receiving 24-hour protection inside Portlaoise to safeguard him from other prisoners.Rival criminals are angry over his recent interview in Irish pop magazine Hot Press, via a mobile phone. This contributed to a security crackdown, which has affected the operations of other gang leaders inside.A Gardai source said: ‘Up until then, a number of jailed criminals were still able to run their empires from inside. Now they can’t communicate with their teams and they blame Gilligan for that.‘Gilligan was badly beaten up by a young Dublin criminal in front of other inmates. And these rivals are not just prepared to go after him it seems; they have the team and the firepower to hunt down the remaining members of his old gang, most of whom are now in Spain.’In recent years the Irish underworld, alongside the Russian mafia and British gangsters, have fought for control of the lucrative drugs trade in southern Spain.

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Nikki Beach shooting possible links to Peter Mitchell hit.

Police in Spain are investigating if an overnight shooting in Marbella is linked to a gun attack on an Irishman in the Costa del Sol this week.A 42-year-old man and one other person were shot in the early hours of this morning, outside a disco bar.
On Thursday night 39-year-old Peter Mitchell, a former associate of convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan, was shot in a bar in Puerto Banus by a masked gunman.
He remains under guard in hospital in Spain after narrowly surviving the assassination attempt, while two other men caught up in the shooting received minor injuries.

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Shots were fired as fighting broke out at the Nikki Beach disco

Shots were fired as fighting broke out at the Nikki Beach disco, near Marbella, where guests included the British actress Jennifer Metcalfe from the soap opera HollyoaksA 42-year-old man received hospital treatment after being shot in both legs, while the extent of the injuries to the second victim remained unclear. A third was believed to have needed treatment for a cut hand.One witness said: 'It was absolute pandemonium. People ran for their lives. Chairs and bottles were flying all over the place. Some people ran for cover as it all kicked off, and others just dropped to the ground and covered their heads as best they could to protect themselves. 'The minute they realised someone had been shot there was a mass surge for the door, as people tried to get out of the club as quickly as possible.'
It was the second shooting incident in 48 hours in the area. Last Thursday Peter Mitchell, 39, who has connections to the jailed Dublin gangland criminal John Gilligan, survived after being shot outside a bar on a complex in Puerto Banus, near Marbella. Two bystanders, including a 72-year-old Irishman, were also hit after a masked gunman burst into the bar and fired four shots before escaping in a white BMW. Irish police believe the attempted murder of Mitchell is linked to threats against Gilligan inside Ireland's Portlaoise jail. Mitchell fled to Spain after the 1996 murder of the investigative journalist Veronica Guerin

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'Fat' Freddie Thompson, who has been lying low in Spain for the last number of weeks, has returned to his inner city stronghold

'Fat' Freddie Thompson, who has been lying low in Spain for the last number of weeks, has returned to his inner city stronghold, no doubt to organise the next phase of a bloody feud that has already claimed 13 lives.It seems unbelieveable that this drug mastermind, who has so much blood on his hands, has now the temerity to attempt to sue gardai for an alleged security breach. With almost breathtaking affrontery, this criminal would use the law he so despises to protect his life and blame it when it's under threat. What is not being denied is that a security dossier with the names and addresses, car registrations and other details has been stolen by an opportunistic thief from a garda car. Thompson has been made aware that the file could be in the hands of his deadly enemies in the long-running feud. As the violence has escalated, many of Thompson's henchmen, fearful of an assassin's bullet, have sought refuge in some of the more affluent parts of south County Dublin. News of the stolen dossier of course will send shivers up their spine and will further enflame an already tense situation. The idea that this gangster could be contemplating an action against the gardai because of a threat to his own life is beyond a joke and highlights the need for the State to take the gloves off and take on these drug barons. When the Government returns after their summer holidays, they should bring in new laws to deal with these organised criminals. Anti-racketeering laws, like the RICO laws that brought organised crime gangs to their knees in the US, are needed. The Government must realise that Freddie Thompson and his ilk represent a deadly menace to the wellbeing of the State.

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Peter "Fatso" Mitchell and two other men received bullet wounds as they sat drinking beer on the pub terrace near the Costa del Sol

Peter "Fatso" Mitchell and two other men received bullet wounds as they sat drinking beer on the pub terrace near the Costa del Sol resort of Puerto Banus. Four shots were fired by a masked gunman, two of which hit 39-year-old Mitchell in the shoulder and arm. He was last night recovering in hospital. Spanish authorities said his injuries were not life threatening. The shooting happened around 11.40pm on Thursday night outside the El Jardin bar in the Aloha Gardens complex, a popular tourist area in the upmarket residential suburb of Nueva Andalucia. The two other men shot -- aged 45 and 73 -- received flesh wounds to the arm and leg respectively. Both have already been discharged from hospital. Local reports said that the two other victims were Irish nationals. However, Spanish authorities refused to confirm this last night. Spanish authorities said a gunman wearing a balaclava fired the shots after running up to where Mitchell was sitting. He then jumped into a white getaway car, which sped away from the scene and was later discovered abandoned a short distance away. The identities of the other two injured men were unknown last night. However, Spanish officials described them as innocent holidaymakers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mitchell, originally from Summerhill in Dublin's north inner city, is a former lieutenant of jailed drug baron John Gilligan. He fled Ireland in 1996 amid the unprecedented garda crackdown following the assassination of journalist Veronica Guerin. Mitchell was a close friend of another Gilligan gang member, Brian Meehan, who is the only man to have been convicted of Guerin's murder.
The Special Criminal Court, which jailed Gilligan for 20 years for drug trafficking, heard evidence that Mitchell was part of a gang which imported vast amounts of cannabis into the country. Detectives believe Mitchell remained heavily involved in drugs rackets after fleeing to Spain. He had also been running the Paparazzi bar in Puerto Banus until it closed earlier this year after failing to secure a music licence. One witness, Sara Lopez (23), said: "I heard four pops like fire crackers and the next minute I heard screaming and looked up to see an old white car racing away from the scene. "A man was lying on the floor of the terrace outside the bar and writhing around in agony with blood coming from his shoulder as the first of the police cars turned up." All three shooting victims were rushed to the Costa del Sol Hospital in nearby Marbella. Spanish police said the elite Malaga-based Anti-Drug and Organised Crime Unit were assisting local officers in the investigation. Recent reports said Mitchell was selling his €1.2m villa in Puerto Banus following the closure of his pub and a falling out with associates. His bar had been frequented by Dublin hitman Paddy Doyle, who was himself shot dead in the nearby Costa del Sol town of Cancelada near Estepona in February. Doyle, who was originally from Dublin, died after he and his friend Gary Hutch were ambushed in his 4x4 outside an apartment complex. Hutch survived the shooting. Nueva Andalucia is a residential area behind the upmarket Puerto Banus port where thousands of Irish and British expats and holidaymakers party every summer alongside multi-million-euro yachts and expensive sports cars. High-profile summer residents include British PR guru Max Clifford. The area is also home to a string of golf courses, a casino and a bullring. But Irish, British and eastern European criminals behind shady drugs deals and prostitution also frequent its bars and restaurants. And the street where Thursday's shooting happened has been the scene of several violent shootings in recent years.

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Convicted drugs smuggler Anthony Cyril Spencer, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire has helped his son Jason Wilson to write Him & Hers Smuggling Vacation.

COMIC book with top tips on drug smuggling from a Midland supercriminal is being circulated at HMP Birmingham.Convicted drugs smuggler Anthony Cyril Spencer, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire has helped his son Jason Wilson to write Him & Hers Smuggling Vacation.Spencer was sentenced to six years in jail for importing cannabis in 2003 and has spent more than 20 years in prison.The book is based on a married Coventry couple who try to smuggle a large cannabis stash from Spain into the UK.
It features crime tips, including the best way to transport cannabis from the sea to dry land and safest way to communicate plans.It also describes in detail how police undertake surveillance operations.Jason said the book has proven a big hit at Winson Green where it is being widely read by inmates.And said he hopes it will be contained in prison libraries in the future.
But last night Birmingham Perry Barr Labour MP, Khalid Mahmood, said he was shocked that prisoners have been allowed to read the book.“I’m absolutely appalled,” he said. “I don’t want to stop former criminals writing about their experiences.“But to actually put information into a book like this which will only increase the criminal knowledge of inmates is highly dangerous.
“Prison authorities should have stopped this from getting into the wrong hands.
“We don’t want our prisons turning into universities of crime.”British police named the 59-year-old Spencer was the ‘most wanted’ criminal in Britain while investigating a multi million pound drugs factory in a remote farmhouse in the Midlands.Spencer fled to Holland in 2000, on suspicion of taking part in the plot to produce amphetamine sulphate and Ecstasy on the farm.And in 2006 he was cleared of killing 37-year-old David Royle, who was shot dead on May 26 2001 in Amsterdam, Holland.It was understood at the time that Spencer’s plea of self-defence was accepted – he was shot in the chest during the incident.
Jason, 37, who previously worked as an animator at Birmingham’s Custard Factory, said friends and relatives of Winson Green inmates have sent them copies of the book.
He said: “It’s selling incredibly well and is very popular in Winson Green
“I’m really glad about that, as that’s the audience I wanted to reach, since dad’s spent over 20 years of his life in prison.
“Also, the project started as a prison comic.
“It went from wing to wing in dad’s jail in Spain.“Now we’re getting great feedback from Winson Green. They say it’s ‘F***ing brilliant.’
“My ambition is to get loads of them into prison libraries around the country.”
Spencer, who now lives in Ireland and helps convicts receive legal representation, is also pleased his former inmates are able to read the book and believes it could prove very useful for them.He said: “I’m really glad this is proving to be a big hit with all my old pals in jail.“I wanted to make sure all the technical information was spot on, otherwise the book would have had no credibility.
“We’ve put the kind of authentic criminal detail into the comic that you’ll never get in crime movies
“This comic will be like the bible for inmates. Although it’s also great for youngsters, who can look at the pictures.”
But Jason said he doesn’t want his book to make the criminals look like heroes.He said: “I don’t want to glamourise them, like one of these Guy Richie movies. Criminals are very hard people to envy.
“They have all been to prison. They all have bad backgrounds. They are all dysfunctional.“But they certainly aren’t ignorant or dumb.
“The ones I’ve met through my father are all passionate about crime, and are more intelligent than they are given credit for.“That’s what can make them terrifying.”
Spencer changed his family name from Wilson to avoid police pressure.
And Jason admits being raised by one of the Midland’s most notorious criminals was a traumatic experience.“I didn’t realise what dad did for a living when I was a young kid,” he said. “When dad was in prison when I was seven, I was told that he was going off to college.
“But when I was 10 he was imprisoned for armed robbery, then it was explained to me what had actually happened.“It was a stressful life. With my dad going in and out of prison, the family was in turmoil.“My parents ended up getting divorced, and we moved houses and schools.“When I didn’t know anybody in a new area, that’s really when my passion for drawing took off.”Jason said he now wants his father to steer clear of gangsters.He hopes that crime capers will permanently be replaced by comic capering.“Parents are always meant to worry about their kids,” said Jason. “Instead it’s always been me worrying about dad.“I’d much rather that he was helping me write comic books all the time.“If this one really takes off, hopefully it will keep dad away from all the bad stuff.
“He’s 59 now, and still suffers from infections because of the bullet shrapnel that exploded in his body in Holland, and is still there.“I definitely think it’s time he retired for good.”
It took the two men a couple of years to complete the comic. Jason devised and wrote the story, about a foolish young Midland couple, who stumble into a world of depraved drug smuggling while on holiday.
He then posted pages of script to his father in his Spanish prison cell, who ensured the criminal activities were accurate.
“If dad didn’t know any of the details, he was surrounded by people who did know,” Jason said.Finally, the younger man provided the colourful cartoons.
One of the characters – a grey haired master-criminal – has been sketched to resemble his dad.During the project, over 2,000 letters were sent between father and son.They have always been close.Both West Midlands Police and the Prison Service declined to comment.

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crackdown on Costa Blanca crime, the police have arrested 28 alleged members of criminal groups from former Soviet countries

crackdown on Costa Blanca crime, the police have arrested 28 alleged members of criminal groups from former Soviet countries on suspicion of money laundering in what Spanish authorities have called the largest-ever crackdown on international organized crime in Europe.The arrests took place in Benissa, Alicante, Aigues, Orihuela, Altea and Benidorm as well as Malaga and Barcelona. More than 400 Spanish police agents took part in operation Avispa, or "Wasp," a weekend-long sting that culminated in the detention of 28 people whom they allege are members of the "Russian mafia," Police conducted raids in 11 cities along Spain's Mediterranean coast, seizing cars, cash, jewelry, weapons and works of art, the Spanish Interior Ministry announced Monday. In all, police seized 41 homes and businesses and froze 800 bank accounts.Most of those arrested were ethnic Georgians, the ministry said.
Munoz said that 13 of the 22 held Georgian passports, five Russian passports, three Spanish passports and one a German passport. No names were immediately released.They were placed under arrest on suspicion of belonging to illegal organizations, money laundering and fraudulent bankruptcy.The operation was a joint international effort involving police forces from Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, Israel and the United States, the Interior Ministry said in a statement posted on its web site.The raids yielded 42 luxury vehicles, including Bentley, Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar and BMW models. Weapons seized included shotguns and ammunition, brass knuckles, knives and a saber.The money-laundering operations were conducted primarily in the Cataluna, Costa del Sol and Alicante regions of Spain and involved the purchase of property and establishment of fraudulent commercial and financial networks, the Interior Ministry said.As money-laundering fronts, the groups set up restaurants, bars and clubs, which were among the properties seized, the ministry said. Also seized were country villas, city offices and a site to be turned into a housing development, "Los Eucaliptus," consisting of 38 identical homes. Footage of the raids shown on NTV television Monday evening showed one of the suspects handcuffed and in his underwear on the floor of an lavishly decorated living room.
The Spanish Interior Ministry's statement called the operation the "biggest blow to international organized crime in all of Europe to date."Spanish authorities said that 22 of the suspects were notorious crime bosses known as "thieves-in-law."
While the Spanish Interior Ministry talked in terms of the "Russian mafia," this blanket term is commonly used in the West for often-unrelated criminal groups from the territory of the former Soviet Union.
Denis Dechkov, a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Madrid, said Spanish authorities had not provided the embassy with any information about the arrests. "I have no information about how many of them are Russian citizens," he said.
Gregorio Laso-Mostoles, spokesman for the Spanish Embassy in Moscow, also said he did not know how many Russian citizens had been arrested. "At this time, I can say only that the majority of those arrested are of Georgian nationality," he said.
It was unclear whether any of them were facing criminal charges in Russia. Prosecutor General's Office spokeswoman Tatyana Matyunina said she had no information about the arrests and could not comment on possible extradition requests.
Reached by telephone, a spokeswoman for the Spanish Justice Ministry, Julia Gomez, said she expected the suspects to be tried in Spanish courts for the crimes committed on Spanish soil.Andrei Konstantinov, who heads the Agency of Journalistic Investigations in St. Petersburg and has a reputation as the most knowledgeable chronicler of Russia's criminal underworld, said that Russian gangsters began moving to Spain in the mid-1990s to escape the turf wars."Most of them left behind the life of crime and began buying real estate to legitimize the dirty money," Konstantinov said Monday. "But it wasn't just the gangsters. A lot of bureaucrats who earned their money dishonestly also went to Spain."The Spanish police operation was conducted under the auspices of a special anti-corruption commission overseen by the Spanish high court, Audencia Nacional, and appeared to be part of a broad campaign against money laundering and organized crime. Calls to Audencia Nacional went unanswered Monday.
In March, seven people were jailed in southeast Spain on provisional charges related to money laundering, possibly linked to the Yukos oil major.
Reuters quoted a source close to the investigation as saying the suspects may have been siphoning funds from Yukos without the company's knowledge as part of a bigger money-laundering ring.
"These are individuals who, from inside the Russian company, appear to have diverted sums of money ... which then left the country without the knowledge of the company or the tax authorities," Reuters quoted the source as saying.
A week earlier, 33 others had been arrested on Spain's Mediterranean coast on money-laundering charges.Spanish Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido at the time called those money-laundering arrests "the tip of the iceberg" of international organized crime in Spain.

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Spain police have made their biggest heroin seizure when drugs with a street value of more than 54 million euros ($89.6 million) were found at Sitges

Spain police have made their biggest heroin seizure when drugs with a street value of more than 54 million euros ($89.6 million) were found in the Mediterranean port of Sitges.The 316.5kg of heroin were taken from a US-flagged ship and loaded on a van with a Dutch licence plate, police said in a statement. Five men, four of Turkish origin and a Romanian were detained.The drugs were in 633 packages.It is one of the biggest heroin busts in Europe and it is the first time that smugglers have been caught by Spanish police trying to bring the drug into the country by ship, the police statement said.
"We have managed to discover and dismantle a method of introducing heroin, by sea, which was unknown to date, even at the European level, which is especially dangerous," the statement said.Police said they began their investigation in February by monitoring a Dutch national of Turkish origin who was arrested in 1994 for being the leader of a group that smuggled 118kg of heroin into Spain.
He was one of the five men detained on Thursday.Spain, with its extensive southern coastline, is Europe's main point of entry for Moroccan cannabis and for cocaine from South America, mostly from Colombia, the world's top producer of the drug.

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Marbella Police in action

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Police have arrested nine people from the Costa Blanca on suspicion of peddling liquid ecstasy via the internet

Police have arrested nine people from the Costa Blanca on suspicion of peddling liquid ecstasy via the internet. They say the substance is highly dangerous and the bottle carries a warning that it is ‘unsuitable for human consumption’. A total of 12 people from the provinces of Alicante, Malaga and Madrid were detained last week and found to be in possession of 14 litres of Gamma Butirolactona (GBL).This is primarily an industrial solvent used for metal cleaning and removing paint, and also used in farming and the pharmaceutical industry, police explain. GBL is also a main ingredient in the perilous designer drug known as liquid ecstasy.A high volume of sales by individuals not involved in industries where it is used aroused officers’ suspicions a year ago.
Since that time, some 15 people have been hospitalised after taking GBL orally.
Police say that further arrests have not been ruled out.

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