Costa Blanca
A couple from El Campello who were wanted for the nation’s biggest cocaine haul turn themselves in
The El Campello couple who ran a fruit company that brought in the container containing 13,062 kilogrammes of cocaine last October—the biggest cocaine haul in Spain and the second in all of Europe—have been evading capture for about five months. After the drugs were found and the couple vanished from the opulent villa in El Campello where they lived with their daughter. José Miguel BC, 58, and his partner, Vilma Janet AB, 51, ended their escape yesterday and turned themselves in at a National Police station in Madrid. They were arrested in response to both national and European arrest warrants.
After the police processes are over, the couple—who are being represented by attorney Francisco Miguel Galiana Botella—will be turned over to the National Court. The police have also been searching hospitals for the man, who is originally from Almoradí, because he is ill and needs constant dialysis treatment. The location of the couple’s five-month hiding place is unknown.
First, a sister of the administrator of Abadix Fruits of El Campello, who owns 2% of this fruit import and export business, was taken into custody by the police in the province of Toledo last October. With the help of attorney Galiana Botella, the Public Prosecutor’s Office asked for this woman to be imprisoned; though the court granted her temporary freedom.
The couple and their company, along with other individuals and businesses, were under investigation since the middle of last year for their relationship with an international drug trafficking organisation that imported cocaine containers, for which Inspector Óscar Sánchez Gil, the former head of the UDEF in Madrid, was imprisoned after being arrested with his wife, also a national police officer, allegedly worked. The Algeciras court that opened the proceedings following the discovery of the nation’s largest cocaine haul ultimately abstained in favour of the central court of instruction number 1 of the National Court.
According to the National Police’s Internal Affairs department’s investigation, this police commander concealed about 20 million euros in cash between his Madrid home and a villa he purchased and refurbished in Dénia. The purchase was purportedly funded by funds given to him by the drug ring in return for the protection he gave the organisation.
In order to determine whether containers and businesses connected to the drug trafficking organisation were the focus of other police investigations and to notify the criminal organization’s leaders, investigators have found that the former head of UDEF allegedly opened investigations where he entered data on them. Since the El Campello couple was not there when the search was initiated the police thought that they might have received a tip and hurried out of their villa.
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Costa Blanca
Criminal wanted for murder, suspected of highway robberies in Alicante

Four people have been taken into custody by the Guardia Civil on suspicion of participating in highway robberies in the province of Castellón. The offenders, who are also being investigated for other assaults on Alicante highways, have been apprehended in two operations.
Romania has issued a search and arrest warrant for one of the detainees on suspicion of attempted murder and serious injury. As a suspected member of a gang that committed violent robberies in AP-7 and A-7 service areas, he was apprehended during the initial operation.
In Castellón, the detainee was stopped on the N-340. Upon confirming his identity, it was also found that he had a second search warrant in Germany, court requisitions in Spain, and fabricated documents.
Along with these antecedents, the Guardia Civil has been able to connect him to a number of robberies, including two in Cabanes and six others in Burriana, two in the municipality of La Vila Joiosa in Alicante, and one in Benicarló.
Following the discovery of a pattern of assaults on these highways, where the perpetrators employed luxury cars for their escapes and movements, the inquiry got underway in February of last year.
As a consequence, three property-theft specialists who reportedly operated on the AP-7 and exploited rest stops and service stations were apprehended during the second operation.
When the agents were notified of a robbery in the town of Fuente de la Higuera, the investigations got underway. After locating the suspects, the operation led to their arrest.
Numerous stolen personal belongings and a sizeable sum of money were discovered in the car they were riding in. Their suspected involvement in at least ten robberies—two in La Vila Joiosa, three in Burriana, and five in Xeresa—is the subject of an investigation.
The Court of Nules and the National Court have ordered the four prisoners to be imprisoned after they were brought before them together with the processed reports. Officers from the Burriana Guardia Civil’s Main Post conducted the operation as part of the province’s communication routes’ surveillance apparatus.
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Costa Blanca
Man arrested in connection with five fires at La Florida, Alicante

The culprit behind five fires in the Valencian town of Mislata in Alicante has been taken into custody by National Police officers. The fire caused substantial property damage and necessitated medical attention for smoke inhalation.
The National Police were notified of many simultaneous fires that were erupting in multiple spots within the La Florida-La Viña neighbourhood at midnight on March 25th. Personnel from the Alicante Fire Station and members of the Provincial Citizen Security Brigade were also sent to the several locations.
A number of vehicles were also impacted by the fire, which caused significant damage to many of them and entirely burnt one due to the ferocity of the flames, which in every instance had begun in waste containers.
Containers and cars caused the fire to spread to the building façade, putting the occupants of surrounding residences in danger. Firefighters rescued a blind woman who was unable to leave her home, and residents of many residences, including those in a game room, were forced to flee.
Because of the perilous circumstances, the massive volume of smoke, and the spectacular character of the flames, some people needed medical assistance for anxiety attacks and smoke inhalation. The signs of two nearby companies were also materially damaged, as was the façade of these buildings.
The inquiry was taken over by judicial police officers from the Alicante Central District Police Station, who carried out a number of investigations to confirm the timeline and ultimately identify the alleged fire offender.
Officers found the offender in the Valencian town of Mislata after doing the necessary investigation, and he was taken into custody on charges of arson and destruction.
Eleven rubbish and recycling containers worth 17,500 euros were damaged in the fire, along with seven cars, one of which was totally destroyed.
Following police investigations, the 42-year-old inmate was sent before the Mislata Court of Instruction on duty, where he was given an imprisonment order.
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First aid training to local police is signed by the Dénia Council and Benidorm Hospital Clinic

Vicent Grimalt, the mayor of Dénia, and Ana Vasbinder, the director of the Benidorm Clinical Hospital, signed a cooperation agreement this Tuesday to plan training exercises for the Local Police in the areas of accident or health-related assistance, prevention, and first aid.
The technical tools required for the training, including a mock defibrillator and a dummy to simulate resuscitation techniques, were also supplied by the Benidorm Clinic Hospital, which has operated in Dénia for three years.
The first term of this arrangement will be four years.
The materials “will be used immediately in the road safety and first aid classes” that the force conducts in the city’s schools, according to Jovi Estruch, Chief Superintendent of the Dénia Local Police. Additionally, the first course that will be offered as a result of this partnership with the HCB is already planned for June.
This partnership with Dénia City Council and the Local Police “is an obligation, but also an honour, in response to the warm welcome we have received from the public,” said Ana Vasbinder, who is also the director of Institutional Relations at Benidorm Clinical Hospital.
“One of our goals as a company is to be part of the social network in the communities where we work, so being able to help police officers improve their care of people is a commitment for us ,” Vasbinder said.
The health centre’s director further underlined that “their actions can often save lives” because the local police are frequently the first emergency services to arrive at an accident scene.
The Benidorm Clinical Hospital was recognised by the mayor for its participation “in this and many other municipal initiatives related to health and sport.”
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