Man shot dead at Costa Blanca sports club in suspected gangland killing

A man has been shot dead on the Costa Blanca in a new suspected gangland-related killing.

The Albanian 39-year-old was murdered early on Tuesday afternoon in Playa Flamenca in Orihuela Costa near Torrevieja.

The killer escaped on a vehicle believed to be an E-scooter.

He is said to have struck at a bar terrace inside a sports complex, named locally as the Playa Flamenca Sport Club, and fled immediately after shooting his victim dead.

Paramedics could do nothing to save him after being called to the scene along with local police and the Guardia Civil.

The alarm was raised around 12.55pm this Tuesday.

A Guardia Civil spokesman confirmed: “A man has died from gunshot wounds in Orihuela Costa.

“An investigation has been launched.”

There were no immediate reports mid-afternoon local time any arrests had yet taken place.

The spot where today’s murder occurred is in the same area where heavily-armed police arrested a former British soap star in September named last year as one of the UK’s Most Wanted.

Barry Philip Foster, 51, was held on an international arrest warrant in Orihuela Costa south of Alicante.

Foster played Christian Wright in the long-running Channel 4 series Brookside, which aired from 1982 to 2003.

The National Crime Agency asked for the public’s help in May last year in tracking him down so he could begin an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence for fraud.

On 18 September the Guardia Civil confirmed the arrest as they released video footage showing the operation to nab Foster.

Cops subsequently revealed they had tracked down the fugitive after linking his son Michael, wanted over the same 13.6-million-pound fraud that conned would-be models his dad was convicted of, to a Costa Blanca murder.

Cops probing the fatal shooting last December of a 29-year-old Brit identified Michael Foster as a suspect shortly before relatives reported him missing.

The search for him led detectives to the hideout of his ex-Brookside actor dad.

In recent weeks the Costa del Sol has been in the headlines over a wave of gangland-related attacks.

Police in Malaga this Tuesday released photos of the astonishing array of weapons seized from the gang suspected of kidnapping the brother of former Irish footballer and Premier League star Wes Hoolahan.

Darren Hoolahan, 40, has been missing from his Marbella home since June and detectives, who have described his disappearance as “disturbing”, fear he could have been killed and buried near to where he was last seen. Five men, four Irish nationals and a Brit, were arrested over the disappearance late last month.

Last week it emerged police had thwarted a new Costa del Sol gangland attack after arresting a man at a motorway toll booth near Fuengirola who had two hand grenades hidden in his car’s glove box and was “on his way to use them” in a popular Brit holiday resort.

The 46-year-old Spaniard has been described locally as a narco hitman.

The explosives were M50 and M52 Yugoslavian military-style fragmentation hand grenades.

Three Swedish nationals of Somalian origin were held over the 18 September gun murder in a Malaga square of an innocent youngster identified only as Nacho.

The paranoid trio, who have been remanded in prison, are thought to have mistaken him for a hitman who was about to attack them.

Police have already confirmed Nacho had no links to crime.

A Dutchman was shot in the leg on 8 September near a four-star hotel in Marbella in an incident linked to rival drug gang feuding and three suspects arrested after a police chase along the upmarket resort’s famous Golden Mile.

The incident happened a fortnight after a Senegalese man was killed in the same town.

On 22 September a Turkish ultra cheated death in an attempted Malaga marina restaurant assassination.

The Spanish government reacted to the crime by announcing police reinforcements for the city of Malaga.

It also tried to calm the waters amid growing fears about gang violence in the popular British holiday destination by insisting tourists can have “complete peace of mind.”

The sports club where the fatal shooting is said to have occurred early this afternoon could not be reached for comment today on its registered phone number.

As well as eight padel courts, its facilities include a climbing wall, a gym with crossfit classes and a mini-golf course with 18 holes according to its website as well as a swimming pool focused on physical training and a children’s playground with a giant inflatable.

It describes itself online as a “complex designed to be enjoyed all day long with a family atmosphere where adults, children and groups can enjoy leisure and fun activities.”