costa del sol
Last week officers searched four more Costa del Sol villas as part of ‘Operation Shovel’ which began in May with 31 arrests
26.07.10 - 10:30 -
Last week the National Police arrested two more men in connection with the investigation into Irish criminal organisations on the Costa del Sol. Detectives consider these arrests to be the last within the operation known as ‘Shovel’, taking the total number of suspects involved up to 36. It appears that the names of the two men of British origin arrested on Wednesday last week came up during the investigation.
At the same time the Costa del Sol Drugs and Organised Crime Squad searched four properties in_Estepona and Marbella, taking computers and other equipment for analysis.
The first raids took place on May 25th in three countries simultaneously resulting in 17 arrests on the Costa del Sol, 11 in the UK and three in Ireland. The following day another three suspects were arrested in Malaga. The alleged leader of the organisation, Christopher ‘Christy’ K., and his two sons are being held in prison along with two others while three of the group were released on bail.
The investigation began in 2008 following a murder in Estepona. The organisation has been connected with six tourism complexes in Brazil to the value of 500 million euros as well as several Costa del Sol properties worth 150 million euros.
