Aug 03 2007
Criminal gang linked to Naples mafia - the Camorra - arrested on Costa del Sol
In a major Costa del Sol operation the Guardia Civil have struck a criminal organisation linked to the Camorra (the Naples mafia), which provided cover for other European criminal groups as well as trafficking drugs. The alleged criminal had built up a financial network for money laundering purposes.
The raids, in Marbella, Malaga and Fuengirola, as well as Ceuta and Zaragoza, resulted in 14 arrests.
Eleven searches were carried out and the authorities have seized seven properties, four firms and 60 vehicles, all valued at a total of five million euros, as well as 2.5 tons of hashish and several firearms.
Five of the men arrested, those in Marbella, are Italians; another six are Moroccans, and the remaining three are Spaniards. They are accused of a total of 51 offences, ranging from drugs trafficking, the forgery of official documents and money laundering.
It appears that the criminal operation centred around the Moroccans who owned vehicle and nautical rental firms on the Costa del Sol which provided the European criminals with the necessary infrastructure to move around Spain and smuggle Moroccan hashish into mainland Spain. They also provided their clients with false documentation in order to sign the rental contracts.
The Moroccan group also had a network of “ghost” businesses in order to launder large sums of money raised from their illegal activity.
One of the Italians arrested, 29 year old M. P., is a member of the “Mazzarella” clan, one of the most important families of the Camorra, who also have strong connetions with the Calabrian mafia, and who are accused of 80 murders in Italy. Detectives believe that M. P. is in charge of his clan’s drug trafficking deals with Spain, Albania, France, Morocco and the Middle East.
Criminal gang linked to Naples mafia - the Camorra - arrested on Costa del Sol - A. Torices - http://www.surinenglish.com/noticias.php?Noticia=11108
