Kingpin Kinahan's 'right-hand man' is released on bail - Europe, World News - Independent.ie

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Kingpin Kinahan's 'right-hand man' is released on bail - Europe, World News - Independent.ie: "Cunningham, who is said to move between Spain and Holland, is also believed to have been asked to surrender his passport.
Court officials have yet to make any official comment.
But a source close to the case said: 'Cunningham told the judge he was on holiday in Spain when he was arrested and has nothing to do with a crime gang.
'He is still under investigation and remains a suspect but he has been released on bail while the probe continues.'
Around half of the 18 suspects questioned by the judge between Thursday and Saturday are thought to have been sent to jail.
Most are being held in Alhaurin de la Torre prison near the resort of Malaga.
Cunningham's current location is unknown. His lawyer was unavailable for comment yesterday.
After last Tuesday's arrests, police said the criminal gang allegedly led by Christy Kinahan owned property worth €500m in Brazil and €160m in Spain.
Spanish interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the gang was being investigated over a number of murders as well as money laundering and drugs and people trafficking.
Nine people were arrested in the UK and one in Ireland as part of the same police operation, which was coordinated by Europol.
Kinahan and his sons are formal suspects in the ongoing judicial investigation and are expected to be held in jail for at least two years.
Under Spanish law they will not be formally charged until shortly before trial."

Detention will disrupt flow of drugs into State, gardaí believe - The Irish Times - Mon, May 31, 2010

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Detention will disrupt flow of drugs into State, gardaí believe - The Irish Times - Mon, May 31, 2010: "gang leader’s associates in Spain, Ireland and the UK will all being trying to identify the informers and hoping the finger of suspicion doesn’t fall of them. The safety of any criminal suspected of informing on Ireland’s biggest drug gang would be seriously compromised.
It appears the bulk of the initial intelligence came from a €10.5 million seizure of cannabis in Clongorey, Co Kildare, in February 2008.
That means the postmortem into how it all went wrong for Kinahan will likely have its focus in Ireland.
However, Irish criminals on the Costa del Sol who knew anything about Kinahan’s operation will all now be under suspicion as possible informers.
Many drug gangs here and in Britain owe Kinahan’s gang huge sums of money for the drugs they bought from him and may now feel with the gang boss behind bars, they no longer have to pay up.
The remnants of Kinahan’s gang will undoubtedly have other ideas, which may bring them into potentially serious conflict with some of the most dangerous Irish and British drug and gun gangs."

Coffee queen caught in 'pretty women' smuggling plot | World | News | Toronto Sun

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Coffee queen caught in 'pretty women' smuggling plot | World | News | Toronto Sun: "Angie Sanclemente Valencia had been hiding out in Buenos Aires since December, when airport police caught a 21-year-old Argentine woman with 55 kilograms (121 pounds) of cocaine in her baggage boarding a flight to Cancun. That led to arrests of six other alleged gang members who allegedly fingered Colombia’s former “coffee queen” as a ringleader.
Argentina’s media quickly dubbed Sanclemente the “Narco Queen,” but two officials involved in the case told The Associated Press that her specific role in the smuggling organization has not been established.
“When they organized the trafficking of cocaine to Mexico, she participated in the meetings,” said one of the sources, both of whom agreed to discuss the case on condition they not be identified because the investigation was still open.
Police were able to determine Sanclemente’s identity because she had made quite an impression upon her arrival in Argentina, flying first class with a Pomeranian dog, the other official said."

Ring of armed officers surrounds Spanish court for gang hearings - The Irish Times - Sat, May 29, 2010

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Ring of armed officers surrounds Spanish court for gang hearings - The Irish Times - Sat, May 29, 2010: "massive security operation at a Costa del Sol court as they prepared for the arrival of suspected Irish gangland figure Christy Kinahan (53) and associates.
Kinahan’s alleged right-hand man John Cunningham appeared before a Spanish judge last night sporting a bruised eye and a cut on his cheek.
Cunningham (58), from Ballyfermot, was led into court in handcuffs showing signs of a recent struggle.
The suspect looked tired and dishevelled with bags under his eyes. He stayed silent when asked how he was bearing up as he was led into court."

Sir Geoff Hurst Wins Court Action Over Costa del Sol Apartments

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Costa del Sol Life - The No.1 Costa del Sol Blog: Sir Geoff Hurst Wins Court Action Over Costa del Sol Apartments: "World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst has won a High Court action over a 'worthless' investment in Costa del Sol apartments.Sir Geoff, 68, of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, and five other people sued businessman Mark Cordner of Park Lane, Knebworth, Hertfordshire. They alleged, due to Mr Cordner's deceit, they had paid full price for fiveapartments in Marbella to which their rights were now worthless. The judge ruled the investors were entitled to damages.

Off-plan apartments

The amount of damages the group are entitiled to will be assessed at a later date.
The court heard that in 2003 and 2004 the group paid the full purchase price for the off-plan apartments upfront and without security. Since then, they claimed, their rights over them had been either destroyed or rendered worthless.
The apartments were in a development called Aloha Royal, near Puerto Banus, Marbella."

Gardaí link Irish bank accounts to drugs gang - The Irish Times - Thu, May 27, 2010

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Gardaí link Irish bank accounts to drugs gang - The Irish Times - Thu, May 27, 2010: "GARDAÍ HAVE identified a large number of bank accounts in the Republic which they believe were being used by the Irish-led crime cartel based in Spain and now under investigation by police forces across Europe and beyond.
Just over 50 searches have now been carried out in Dublin and Meath at residential properties and at the offices of accountants and solicitors.
Small cash-based retail businesses have also been targeted in searches in the Republic.
Investigators believe the businesses were being used to launder drugs money, and that the deposits in the bank accounts are the proceeds of drug dealing. A substantial six-figure sum was found in one account and gardaí believe the holder has no legitimate means of income.
A team of detectives at the Criminal Assets Bureau and a dedicated money laundering unit attached to the Garda National Drug Unit are now following the money trail."

PROPERTY assets linked to the Christy Kinahan-led international drugs cartel in Brazil alone are worth an estimated €500 million.

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Mafia-like ring with global assets funded by drugs, guns and human trafficking - The Irish Times - Thu, May 27, 2010: "PROPERTY assets linked to the Christy Kinahan-led international drugs cartel in Brazil alone are worth an estimated €500 million.
That sum is more than treble the value of all cash and assets seized by the Criminals Assets Bureau in Ireland since the bureau’s inception almost 15 years ago. The details that continued to emerge in Spain yesterday reveal that Kinahan is at the head of a mafia-style operation with assets worldwide funded by drug trafficking, money laundering, gun running and even human trafficking.
The property portfolio in Brazil is comprised of six leisure complexes and a string of residential properties, with a combined value of €500 million, Spanish authorities say.
In Spain some 60 properties – including villas, apartments and business premises – have already been frozen in the first part of an assets confiscation case there. The properties in Spain are valued at about €150 million by the authorities.
The Spanish properties are located along the Costa in Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella, Nueva Andalusia and Estepona. Kinahan lives in a €6 million villa, and also regularly stays in an apartment valued at €800,000 in a gated complex near Marbella.
There are other properties in Ireland, England, Dubai, South Africa and Belgium."

The World Today - Irish Godfather arrested in European sting 26/05/2010

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The World Today - Irish Godfather arrested in European sting 26/05/2010: "European officials arrested Cristy Kinahan at his coastal mansion in Spain overnight and charged him with running a drug-dealing, gun-running and money laundering syndicate.

In a series of coordinated raids across six countries, 32 people, including Kinahan's two sons, were also arrested, as Michael Vincent reports.

MICHAEL VINCENT: For years the Costa del Sol in Spain has been attractive to English and Irish citizens. But the relaxed Mediterraneanseaside location has also been dubbed the 'Costa cel Crime' for all the underworld figures who like to spend time relaxing in the sun and laundering their money.

Cristy Kinahan's time in the sun ended this morning when authorities raiding his 10-million pound mansion. His sons Cristy Junior and Daniel were also arrested at the home.

Garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy.

FACHTNA MURPHY: People go after the sun or hide in the sun or hide in some foreign clime and go and see, think that the borders can help them to conceal their ill gotten gains and traffic in illicit drugs but there is no hiding place.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Irish police say 53-year-old Kinahan has never held a job, although he has served time for drug-dealing and financial crimes before.

Today he's been accused of running a drug syndicate which initially imported cocaine to Ireland. But then he's alleged to have changed to importing marijuana, the theory being that it would be less risky due to less public outcry or police attention."

Irish Mafia on the Costa del Sol dismantled in operation “Shovel” | SpanishNews.es

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Irish Mafia on the Costa del Sol dismantled in operation “Shovel” | SpanishNews.es: "court in Estepona has led one of the most extensive operation against an Irish mafia gang, which had connections in at least 20 countries. 31 people have been arrested and nearly one hundred luxury properties searched, including local law firms and businesses.
The investigation carried out led to a raid simultaneously in three countries, coordinated by Europol.
In the Costa del Sol, people have been arrested in Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola and Mijas. The fallen crime mob is considered one of the strongest criminal organizations internationally, especially in the British Isles.
Europol alleges the fallen crime group is linked to more than twenty crimes committed in different countries, including several on the Costa del Sol. The death of D. Patrick, aged 28, an Irish citizen whom police linked to organized crime, was shot dead in an ambush in a neighborhood of Estepona. The February 2008 killing was considered from the outset a settling of accounts between drug gangs.
Other investigations still pending include the death of Peter M., 39, who was shot dead in a pub in Nueva Andalucia, Marbella in August 2008 and the death of Richard K., 30, which was shot in February 2009 as he came out of a bar in Benalmadena.
500 agents participated in the coordinated deployment in Spain, United Kingdom and Ireland"

Major Irish drugs supplier held after international operation - The Irish Times - Wed, May 26, 2010

Major Irish drugs supplier held after international operation - The Irish Times - Wed, May 26, 2010: "Dubliner Christy Kinahan, a 53-year-old father of three, was the key target in the raids in Spain, Ireland, the UK, Brazil and Belgium that began at 4.30am yesterday.
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said the arrests showed Irish criminals were mistaken if they believed by relocating to Spain they could evade capture.
“This is an extensive and focused investigation targeting drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms crime.”
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said borders would not protect organised crime gangs.
“[These] events are evidence of the determination of those involved in law enforcement, fully supported by their governments, to take international gangs straight on.”
Trevor Pearce of the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) said the raids were a major blow to a key gang supplying drugs and guns across Europe.
“We also believe this network has been offering a global investment service, ploughing hundreds of millions of pounds of dirty cash into offshore accounts, companies and property on behalf of criminals.”
The international drug trafficking and money laundering investigation has found evidence that Kinahan and his associates have built a property portfolio worth in excess of €150 million. The properties are in Ireland, Spain, Dubai, South Africa, Brazil, Belgium, England and Cyprus and will most likely now be confiscated."

Spanish police link gang to Costa del Sol murder - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

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Spanish police link gang to Costa del Sol murder - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie: "SPANISH police yesterday linked members of the criminal gang allegedly led by the Kinahan family to the murder of Paddy Doyle in Estepona in February 2008.
A police spokesman revealed pan-European crimefighting organisation Europol had brought together police from five countries in 2008 to coordinate a Spanish-led operation to smash the gang.
A statement released late last night by Spanish police said: 'Investigators managed to link a murder committed in Estepona in February 2008 to certain members of the organisation, as well as relating them to other crimes committed on the Costa del Sol, Holland and Ireland."

Christopher 'Christy' Kinahan, 53, was arrested with his two sons in Spain today,

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Christopher 'Christy' Kinahan, 53, was arrested with his two sons in Spain today, suspected of masterminding an international drugs, guns and money laundering crime empire, according to Sky News.
He was detained in the Malaga area as a series of raids in Britain, Ireland, Spain and Belgium led to two dozen arrests.
The international crackdown targeted the gang's multi-million trafficking business from a base on the Costa del Sol.
The network is thought to have been behind a bet-to-lose horse racing scam in the UK in 2004 that led to jockey Kieren Fallon being acquitted of fixing race results. when an Old Bailey trial collapsed.
It has been linked to several underworld shootings and a rise in the supply of guns to inner-city gangs in the UK, it was reported.
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy praised the detectives leading the investigation.
"The message from today's operation is clear: there is no hiding place for those who seek to bring misery and hurt to communities here in Ireland and abroad," the Irish Republic's most senior officer said."

mother was arrested on site and was seen being handcuffed and led away to a waiting car

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understood that she was travelling alone with the children and said she wanted a few days’ holiday at the resort.
She walked up to the hotel front desk at about 2pm on Tuesday and asked a receptionist to call an ambulance immediately.
Staff ran to the room and found the two bodies with no signs of life.
Paramedics rushed to the scene but were unable to revive the two children while local police called in the Catalan regional force the Mossos d’Esquadra to oversee the investigation.
The mother was arrested on site and was seen being handcuffed and led away to a waiting car dressed in a white long-sleeved sweatshirt shortly afterwards.
Police would give no details on her state of mind but said that they were liaising with British officials.
“We are not looking for anyone else at this stage because of what she has told us but we are keeping an open mind,” a spokeswoman for the Mossos d’Esquadra, in the Girona region said.
The hotel entrance was sealed off while the bodies of the children were taken away as investigations continued in the room.
Located on Lloret de Mar's main seafront promenade, the 54-room Miramar hotel, where rooms start from £50 a night, sits in the centre of an area of shops and restaurants popular with British tourists in high season.
Just under 50 miles from Barcelona, the former fishing village's transformation into a brash and sprawling tourist resort began in the early 1970s.
Its five main beaches, stretching over almost five miles, are a popular draw for families but the town’s nightlife has made it popular with the 18 to 30 crowd.

Pancake Taylor is described as a fearsome individual

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How Liverpool docks became a hub of Europe's deadly cocaine trade | World news | The Observer: "Pancake Taylor is described as a fearsome individual, typifying a new generation of thug who has made the big time, and operates in a fashion poles apart from the methodical dealings of Smith. His emerging position in the city's cocaine trade is the first time one of the so-called 'Soljas' – the hooded scallies of the sink estates – has reached the summit of the Liverpool mafia food-chain.
According to one former Liverpool gangster, 'Smith was old-school. His word mattered, payments were upfront and on time. The Pancake has no social skills, he is seen as violent and unpredictable, more interested in shooting than making serious money.
'They are heavily armed, they plant homemade bombs outside pubs. If the Mexicans are doing business in Liverpool, they have met their match.'
Liverpool is a place where all roads feel like they head to the banks of the Mersey, the brown plume of water that is the city's lifeblood. From the waterfront, Merseyside's famous docks stretch north for 10 kilometres, eventually swallowed by the haze above Crosby.
Perhaps it is no surprise that the river that shaped a city should also mould its criminality. One police source said: 'Dockers walked off with whatever came in on the ships and this evolved in the 1970s and 1980s"

Málaga and Murcia airports could be closed by the ash cloud for a time around 1800 tonight.

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Málaga and Murcia airports could be closed by the ash cloud for a time around 1800 tonight.

Lisbon airport is now open again, and awaiting the arrival of the Pope. 126 flights had been cancelled in Spain today by 2pm.

Earlier there were flight restrictions in some parts of Spanish airspace between 20,000 and 35,000 feet, led to delays in operations, with only 25% of normal airspace capacity Monday evening over Sevilla, Madrid and Barcelona.

The Spanish Ministry of Defence has opened its airspace to commercial traffic to try and ease the situation, and the Ministry for Development has created a coordination commission to try and guarantee air services across the country

32 flights to Portugal, and 19 to the U.K. out of a total 305 flights were cancelled Monday, 5.7% of the total because of the restrictions, but far more will be lost today if the airports remain closed or if the ash cloud expands.

Fake pilots nabbed smuggling cocaine

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Fake pilots nabbed smuggling cocaine: "Spanish narcotics agents nabbed two men dressed in pilot uniforms, complete with caps and insignias, trying to smuggle 55kg of cocaine through Madrid airport, police said on Monday.
The duo arriving on a flight from Santa Cruz in Bolivia caught the eye of Spanish narcotics agents because they were travelling with passengers and not with airline personnel, police said in a statement.
A check of their documents revealed that the two, whose nationality was not disclosed, did not fly for any airline and then 50 packets of cocaine, weighing some 55kg, were discovered in their carry-on baggage."

Brits Turn On To On-Line Travel Deals | Twitravel | Best travel deals

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Brits Turn On To On-Line Travel Deals | Twitravel | Best travel deals: "Recent reports on the British economy warned that overseas holidays could take a major hit as families look to save money on past expenditure – and while some might reduce overseas trips from three to one or two a year, many others are looking to holiday in the British Isles – coupled with higher overseas holiday prices due to the cost of aviation fuel the travel industry is almost certainly going to go through a tough time in the near and medium terms."

Sean Connerys villa is no longer on the land. Now it is occupied by a four story building, known by the same ‘Malibu’ name.

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National Police on Thursday simultaneously registered the offices of the law firm Díaz-Bastien & Truan, both in Marbella and in the Torre Picasso in Madrid.
Europa Press reports that the raids were carried out on the orders of Instruction Court 1 in Marbella, but there are no reports of any arrests. The agency says the raids are thought to be linked to Juan Antonio Roca, the ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor in Marbella, and the reclassification of land where Scottish actor Sean Connery built his famous villa, ‘Malibu’. Connery spent his summers there with his wife until he left Marbella in 1999, critical of the changes and massive building being seen in the town.The Connery villa is no longer on the land. Now it is occupied by a four story building, known by the same ‘Malibu’ name.El Mundo reports that the lawyers who have been searched negotiated with Jesús Gil and Juan Antonio Roca, for the reclassification of the lands where the villa originally stood, allowing the four story building to be constructed.The El Mundo archives show that the paper reported in September 15 1999 that the then Partido Andalucista spokesman, Carlos Fernández, denounced ‘a speculative manoeuvre’ to build the 70 apartments on the site, although he did not finally place his complaint in court. Fernández is himself now a fugitive from justice, implicated in the Malaya case. At the time he said that Connery received 800 million pesetas for the sale of his property.

Fernando del Valle, and 18 others are accused of money laundering and other charges

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Fernando del Valle, and 18 others are accused of money laundering and other charges
The Prosecutors’ Office has rejected a request from the defence to annul the Ballena Blanca money laundering case, based in the offices of the Chilean lawyer, Fernando Del Valle, in Marbella.His defence team, and lawyer Horicaio Oliva, had claimed that the evidence was ‘illicit’, as the instruction judge, Miguel Angel Torres, had merely gone on a fishing expedition. But the Anti-Corruption Delegate for Málaga, Juan Carlos López Caballero, rejected that claim and called for the case to continue.
Another of the defence lawyers, José Carlos Aguilera, who is defending one of the notaries in the case, launched a harsh attack on the instruction judge, accusing him of bringing the seizure of massive amounts of documentation into fashion.
The case against Del Valle and 18 others resumed on Monday after a five week break for all the parties to study the case summary of more than 200,000 sheets of documentation. This included the details of all the clients in the Del Valle office upto March 2005 when the police raided the premises.

three and a half year prison sentence for the Spanish diva, Isabel Pantoja, on charges of money laundering

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Prosecutor is calling for a three and a half year prison sentence for the Spanish diva, Isabel Pantoja, on charges of money laundering, and is also seeking the payment of a 3.7 million € fine.The charges against her started in the Malaya corruption case in Marbella, where her now ex partner, ex Mayor, Julián Muñoz, is also accused, as is his ex wife, Maite Zaldívar.Europa Press reports that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutors’ report runs to 74 pages, and that Instruction Judge in Court 5 in Marbella, Óscar Pérez, considers that Isabel Pantoja obtained large sums of money without justification during her relationship with Julián Muñoz. He notes that in 2002, before the relationship she paid in less than 5,000 € in cash to the bank, but between 2003 and 2006 that amount was 100 times higher, estimating that in four years she obtained more than 474,000 € via this type of cash movement.