ISSUE NO. 1680
14 - 20 September 2017
Dog beach demand ANIMAL lovers have launched a petition urging the creation of proper dog spaces on Mojacar’s beaches. The petition on Change.org now had more than 300 signatures at the time of writing, with a target of 500. It will be sent to Mojacar Town Hall and the Junta de Andalucia. Online those interested in supporting it can find a full manifesto in Spanish.
COSTA DE ALMERÍA
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Pumped up Illegal steroids gang busted
Fighting terror hand in glove VITAL security meetings were chaired in Mojacar and Garrucha. The respective councils met with representatives from the Spanish armed forces and National Police to collaborate on antiterrorism measures. The objective was to ensure that Local Police in both municipalities work hand in glove with their National counterparts and military officials if and when the need arises. Local Police will be expanding their responsibilities to keep a lookout for potential terrorist activity.
Officers in one of the suspected gyms. By John Smith Gyms and sports outlets in Almeria have been distributing illegal steroids, it has emerged. It comes after 41 people have been arrested for the illegal importation and sale of banned substances estimated as being worth €2 million. A probe was launched after police discovered that a gym in Palma de Mallorca was selling various banned drugs including anabolic steroids which are considered damaging to the health of those who use them. Based on information
gathered from this first inv e s t i g a t i o n , o ff i c e r s r e alised that the importation and sale of the drugs was much greater than first expected and although many of the items came into Spain via Portugal, they were actually being obtained from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and the United States. G e n e r a l l y, t h e i t e m s were smuggled into Spain in vehicles which had false floors and were then distributed to gyms and sports outlets in Mallorca, Barcelona and the Canaries as well as the provinces of Almeria, Huelva, Malaga,
Tarragona, and Toledo. In all, the investigators believe that between 2016 and 2017, the gang had imported 4,400 parcels with a weight of approximately 3.1 tons, which earned them around €2 million. Payment for the banned substances was made in cash and in one intercepted p a r c e l o ff i c e r s f o u n d €80,000 hidden in printer cartridges that were destined for Greece. After 45 different raids o n p r o p e r t i e s , o ff i c e r s seized a huge volume of these illegal drugs as well as €180,000 in cash, five luxury vehicles, narcotics and a number of weapons.
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Smuggler’s paradise MORE than a 10th of all the drugs imported into Spain come through Almeria. In a paper published recently the Spanish State Security Corp says it seized 43,413 kilos of narcotics in the province in 2016. That amounts to roughly 12 per cent of the total seized in Spain from traffickers. Only Malaga and Cadiz fared worse, with roughly 40 per cent of drugs entering Spain coming through the latter. In Almeria much of the seizures are related to the hash trade. The province’s extensive Mediterranean coastline is targeted by traffickers from North Africa where the drug is produced. The province is now a leader in exporting marijuana to the rest of Europe, leading investigators to work directly with electricity company Endesa. They can help identify homes using a suspicious amount of electricity.