Costa Blanca South 20 - 26 April 2017 Issue 1659

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ISSUE NO. 1659

20 - 26 April 2017

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH

YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION

€3.5 million drug haul Brit suspects held

SEIZED: A new synthetic drug. By Jack Troughton Two British men have been arrested after a drugs haul worth €3.5 million was found at Alicante-Elche airport hidden in packs of coffee. The Guardia Civil said the contraband was a ‘new’ synthetic drug and was 80 times more powerful than traditional cannabis after 12.2kg was intercepted, flown to Spain from Hong Kong. Officers swooped to arrest a 36-year-old man at a bar in El Campello last week after a controlled delivery was authorised by an Elche judge. The police had kept the premises under surveillance before the raid.

Two days later the second suspect, a 37-year-old, was arrested at the airport. It was alleged he was attempting to flee justice. The shipment arrived at the airport last month and suspicious officers were convinced the unusual material in the packs of coffee - disguised among genuine packets and bags of sweets - was an illicit substance. Described as being ‘of lumpy texture and light in colour,’ the shipment was headed for a bar said to be popular with the British community. Scientists at a government laboratory determined it was a strong ‘cannabinoid’ and would

Police presence felt LOCAL POLICE in Torrevieja stepped up their operations during Semana Santa. Officers seized 1,754 counterfeit items in an effort to crack down on unauthorised street vending, charging three people with intellectual property theft. Increased police presence culminated in less cases of theft from pickpocketers in the Mercadillo, as well as quick intervention in two street brawls. Security was also prominent, with eight checkpoints for vehicles and people in different areas of the city.

powerfully affect human users, estimating it was 80 times stronger than cannabis. After appearing in court in Elche, both men were charged with offences against public health, relating to trafficking.

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