Three people have been arrested in Almonte, Huelva, for allegedly building on protected land close to the Doñana Nature Park.

Three people have been arrested in Almonte, Huelva, for allegedly building on protected land close to the Doñana Nature Park.The buildings were to have been used for rural tourism, but the German owners of the land, the two German and Austrian promoters of the project in Alto de las Niñas, are now being held. A judicial order has taped up the site and the two buildings, built to host six beds in one and stables for 14 horses in another. A neighbouring villa and warehouse are also considered to have been built illegally.

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Drug smuggling gang which trafficked in hashish have been arrested by National Police and Guardia Civil in Valencia and Murcia.

Drug smuggling gang which trafficked in hashish have been arrested by National Police and Guardia Civil in Valencia and Murcia. The gang brought the drug over from Morocco using yachts and recreational boats. 25 people have been arrested Police say they started their operation in March last year and over its four phases have arrested 25 people and recovered nearly 7,000 kilos of the drug, as well as two firearms, three boats and six vehicles. The drug was usually brought into sports marinas in Spain although sometimes it was transferred at sea onto fishing boats.

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Marbella businessman Fernando Moreno died during the bungled kidnapping and ransom attempt.

Marbella businessman Fernando Moreno died during the bungled kidnapping and ransom attempt. It’s taken just six days for the National Police to establish what happened, with the arrest of one of the accused on Monday and a second on Tuesday, resulting in the case being solved yesterday, according to Diario Sur newspaper. The Interior Minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalbaba, has congratulated the force on their rapid solution of the case.One of the accused is an ex employee of Fernando Moreno, and was aware of his worth and daily routine. He made an agreement with a Colombian friend to carry out an express kidnapping to obtain money, and they joined forces with two more Colombians to carry out their plan, initially asking for two million €, an amount which fell to 600,000 €. The precise circumstances of the victim’s death remain unclear, although the autopsy revealed the 76 year old died from suffocation, it’s still unclear whether his death was intentional or accidental.

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Spanish police investigated more property corruption scandals in 2008 than in previous years

Spanish police investigated more property corruption scandals in 2008 than in previous years, it has emerged.They examined 164 cases, up 40% from 117 cases, figures from the Ministry of the Interior show. The number of arrests also increased from 134 in 2007 to 207 last year

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Search and arrest operations were undertaken by the Spanish national police together with the economic crime and money laundering group,

SFO spokesman said: "Search and arrest operations were undertaken by the Spanish national police together with the economic crime and money laundering group, the superior chief police of Catalunia with the support of the fraud unit Udes Madrid and the local police of Elche (Alicante) alongside SFO investigators of the SFO and City of London Police last week at four residences and two business premises in Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante.
"Six people were arrested and interviewed in relation to the SFO investigation into Langbar International.
"As part of the ongoing investigation into certain individuals previously associated with Crown Corporation Ltd, now Langbar International under new management, the SFO obtained collaboration from the Cuerpo Nacional de Policia and a mutual legal assistance procedure to undertake searches, arrests and interviews. The operations were co-ordinated by Crime Court 24 of Barcelona."
When the SFO began its investigation in 2005, Langbar had already requested the suspension of its shares. Later that year, the company announced a new board.
No-one from Langbar was available to comment but a statement on the company's website reads: "The present board of Langbar International Limited is determined to discover exactly what has transpired concerning company funds and to pursue their recovery. Our aim is to restore value for shareholders to the maximum that can be achieved."

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Forged Euros tracked down to Italy

Italian police have dismantled a vast network of euro counterfeiters, arresting 94 people across the country, an officer told AFP on Wednesday. We arrested 94 people in Italy, in 16 of the country's 20 regions,said police spokesman Colonel Carlo Pieroni, adding that most were inthe impoverished southern regions of Campania and Calabria.Police seized 1.23 million euros (1.6 million dollars) ofcounterfeit notes as well as forged documents and revenue stamps used for paying administrative fees, Pieroni said.The counterfeiters produced good quality euro notes indenominations of 20, 50 and 100 as well as one and two euro coins, he added.Pieroni said they had also been operating in other European countries including Germany, Spain, Lithuania and France, and that somefake euros had turned up in Latin America.Two people were arrested in Spain last year as part of the same investigation, he added.What began as a probe into drug trafficking led police to the counterfeit network, which Pieroni described as a veritable holding company made up of 11 criminal units.
Some 700 police officers took part in the operation, which involved
150 searches. They uncovered four laboratories where the fake bills and coins were made.Some of counterfeit money made its way into the illegal drug trade,
Pieroni said.The crackdown came the day after Italian police announced the
dismantling of a network operating near Naples that made fake Algerian dinars worth about 3.5 million euros.

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Spanish national police have arrested six men in connection with a massive $600million shares fraud

Spanish national police have arrested six men in connection with a massive $600million shares fraud on the London Stock Exchange. Officers from the National Police Economic Crimes and Money Laundering Unit pounced in raids across the country as part of an investigation started by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office four years ago.
Four men were arrested in Barcelona and one each in Madrid and Elche, just inland from the Costa Blanca near Alicante, in south-east Spain. Five of those held are Spanish and the other comes from Argentina. Spanish National Radio reported that one of those arrested was an agent for MOSSAD – the Israeli intelligence service. Spanish police said the Serious Crime Office alleged the massive swindle began in 2003 and was rumbled two years later in 2005. It involved the fraudulent sale of shares in a fictitious company. When it started trading on the stock exchange, the company was said to have assets totalling £370million. Later various financial operations were announced in the firm’s name which led to the value of the shares in the false company going up. Adverts were also placed in specialised publications aimed at creating interest in the shares, said a police statement issued in Madrid.
As well as the arrests Spanish detectives also seized a large quantity of documents and several computers. The six were today being held at a top security prison near Madrid where the case is being handled by the National Criminal Court which deals with all extraditions. If those held agree to be sent to Britain they will be escorted to the UK within a week or two. But if they fight extradition they could spend many months behind bars before a full hearing in front of a panel of three judges at the National Court.

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Spanish National Police from the organised crime group have seized eight luxury houses, a Lamborghini sports car and a yacht from Ian Donaldson.

Spanish National Police from the organised crime group have seized eight luxury houses, a Lamborghini sports car and a yacht from Ian Donaldson.
Amateur racing driver Ian Donaldson's property portfolio on Tenerife includes a £1million clifftop villa. The 30-year-old - once accused of abducting an underworld rival at gunpoint - is being probed along with Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39. O'Dea and McDonald, of Glasgow, have been arrested as part of Operation Sendero by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and Spain's police. The pair are accused of running a huge drug-smuggling operation and last week had £12million of money and assets seized in Tenerife and on the Spanish mainland. Donaldson, who has a fortified home in Renton, Dunbartonshire, was targeted in the same probe but is not in custody. As well as having his Tenerife properties frozen, he has been hit in Scotland under similar proceeds of crime laws. SCDEA officers confiscated £47,052 of cash from Donaldson and three other men at Glasgow Airport last September. They also took 9320 Moroccan dirhams (£793) and 660 euros (£622). The Crown Office have raised a civil action at Paisley Sheriff Court to keep the cash. Spanish court documents reveal Madrid judge Eloy Velasco Nunez suspects O'Dea has a secret share in some of the homes seized from Donaldson. Assets seized in Spain and Tenerife include bank accounts, a Lamborghini Gallardo and a yacht. Donaldson's four-bedroom clifftop villa is in the exclusive Lajas de Chapin area. All his Tenerife properties were bought in the last two years.

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organised crime unit of the Spanish police is investigating the murder of Richard KeoghIt

It has emerged that the murder may have been ordered by a Northside criminal gang.
Organised crime unit of the Spanish police is investigating the murder of Richard Keogh (30), . Security sources in Spain say the killing is believed to be drugs related.Keogh, a father of four children aged between two and nine years, was wounded several times after at least 10 shots were fired in a drive-by shooting in Benalmadena Costa near Marbella.He was walking along a pavement with this wife at about 11.35pm on Saturday when a car pulled up and at least one occupant opened fire. Keogh collapsed on the pavement outside the Torrequebrada Hotel.The dead man is originally from Carnlough Road, Cabra, but in recent years had settled with his family in the Belfry estate, Duleek, Co Meath.On November 2nd, 2007, Keogh was putting his bin out for collection when a gunman fired at least five shots at him as his wife and two-year-old son looked on. He was wounded in the shoulder and arm but managed to run back into the safety of his home.His attacker tried to run into the house but Keogh’s partner slammed the door shut as a number of bullets hit the house.
Shortly after the murder attempt, Keogh put his five bedroom detached property up for sale and moved with his partner and children to southern Spain. Keogh has been a target of the Garda National Drug Unit for a number of years as part of Operation Rugby and Operation Banish. He was associated with a man from Cabra who was a member of an international gang caught with cocaine valued at €400 million off the coast of Spain a number of years ago.Keogh’s assets are currently being investigated by the Criminal Assets Bureau. Garda sources said they regarded Keogh a “significant player” in the drugs trade here.The deceased was one of a growing number of gangland figures involved in the motor trade in Dublin. He was a partner in a garage in the north inner city. Garda sources said that while he had addresses in Balbriggan and Duleek before moving to Spain, he remained closely associated with drug dealers from Cabra and from Dublin’s north inner city. He and was also associated with the Finglas-based gang once led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland.Gardaí suspect that when Keogh moved to Spain he began sourcing cocaine and other drugs from international gangs there for export to his contacts in Ireland. They believe his murder is most likely linked to a drugs dispute with an international cartel rather than with any Irish criminals based in Benalmadena Costa. Southern Spain is popular with Irish gangs because it is the European distribution hub for cocaine smuggled from Colombia via west Africa.Keogh’s murder is the latest in a series of killings in which Irish drug dealers have been shot after relocating to continental Europe.Peter Mitchell (39), of Summerhill in Dublin, was wounded in a shooting in Marbella last August. He was a one-time associate of John Gilligan. Drug dealer Paddy Doyle, of Portland Place, in Dublin, was shot dead near Marbella last February.The former leaders of the notorious Dublin Westies gang, Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg, were shot dead in Alicante, southern Spain, in early 2004.John McKeon, from Finglas in Dublin, has been missing presumed dead in Spain for over three years. Cork drug dealer Michael “Danser” Ahern was found dead in the freezer of an apartment in Portugal in 2005.

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