It's a sultry evening in Marbella. The odor van sea hangs between the palm trees, tourists sipping their cava on elegant terraces, and on the horizon the Mediterranean as an endless promise of peace and beauty. But beneath this layer of luxury and sunlight lies a dark undercurrent, which is gradually forming the backbone of a harsh reality: the Cantabrian del Sol is not only the setting for holiday dreams, but also for nightmares full of violence, money and power.
In residential areas where once only the odor of orange trees hung, are now burning auto's out after targeted assassinations. The beautiful coastline of Andalusia – once a refuge for the wealthy, expats and retirees – has become a logistical hub in the global drug trade. What started as a smuggling route for hashish from Morocco, has now become one of the most important passages for SouthAmerican cocaine to Europe.
The names of the perpetrators are international, their methods are ruthless and their power seems endless. What connects them? An insatiable hunger for control across the continent's most lucrative markets. Spanish authorities are trailing the facts on, the real estate market is buzzing with black money, and anyone who stands in the way is simply eliminated.
❓What exactly is going on with the Cantabrian of the Sun?
❓Who are the players in this international deadly game?
❓How much money is involved – and where does it all go?
❓And perhaps the most pressing question: can this still be stopped?
This is the story of a royal who struggles to maintain her innocence as the underworld tightens its grip. Welcome to the new backside of paradise.
Along the boulevards of Malaga, Marbella and Estepona, everything seems business as usual: luxury boutiques, chic beach clubs and sleek golf courses. But if you look a little further than the cocktail menu at Nikki Beach or the skyline of Puerto Banús, you will see a different Spain to emerge. A Spain where drug gangs set the pace, where liquidations take place just hundreds of metres from tourist hotels, and where money flows disappear anonymously into an opaque real estate web.
De Cantabrian del Sol has changed. Radically.
In the 90s, the Costa del Sol was known as the haven of British gangsters who stir escaped in Manchester. Even then, villas were paid for with cash, and they looked away like a Ferrari with foreign license Plate in brand But what was then still small-scale and relatively local has today grown into a complex criminal ecosystem that operates across Europe, even globally.
The port of Algeciras — just an hour's drive from Marbella — has become one of the largest smuggling ports for cocaine and hash to Europe. Containers from Colombia, Ecuador or Morocco easily disappear here among the mass supply. And where drugs When they arrive, violence, settling of scores, money laundering schemes and shifts of power automatically follow.
What makes the situation so disruptive is that the violence almost always remains invisible… until it is too late. It is no longer flashy gangsters with gold chains and flashy cars who call the shots. The new generation criminals blends seamlessly with the jet set. They dine in the same restaurants, buy the same designer brands, but meanwhile work on logistics operations that generate millions and save lives Costs.
In areas such as Nueva Andalucía, La Zagaleta and Los Flamingos, villas have been purchased through complicated offshore constructions. Residents drive Range Rovers with tinted windows, pay cash at private clinics and have agreed to secrecy with their personeel. Everything seems normal — until suddenly bullets ring out.
The Costa del Sol's appeal to the international underworld is no coincidence. A combination of geographical location, lax regulations, high quality of life and an overburdened judicial infrastructure makes the royal almost irresistible for those who want to earn big illegally. Some factors that strengthen the situation:
Perhaps the most worrying thing is how silently the violence nestles into the fibers of everyday life. leven. A remote shooting just barely makes it to the local newsA burnt out auto in a ravine? Taken away at night, forgotten in the morning. Even inhabitants getting used to the idea that a moord in their neighborhood does not necessarily mean that they themselves are in danger — as long as they don't interfere.
But that silence is treacherous. Because the violence is not temporary. It is structural, organized and economic embedded. And while villas are bought up with drug money, the atmosphere on the streets is also changing: police officers are increasingly cautious, journalists are threatened, and those who know too much remain silent.
Tourists keep coming, influencers keep posting, and property prices keep rising. But behind the facade, a fierce battle is being waged. The Costa del Sol is still beautiful, warm and seductive — but the real power increasingly lies in the hands of invisible players with deadly intentions.
Those who don't see it often don't want to see it. But the sun the darkness no longer hides.
The bullets that fall on the Costa del Sol rarely speak SpaansThey come from weapons brought from The Netherlands, France, Belgium or the Balkans, and are fired on the orders of gangs operating across borders. What once seemed a Spanish affair is now an explosive mix of nationalities, each with their own role in the underworld. The violence on the Sunny Coast is European — and increasingly global.
Dutch people have been playing a key role in the organised drug trade on the Costa del Sol for years. It is no coincidence that a large part of the cocaine trade in Europe comes via the ports from Rotterdam and Antwerp, where Dutch gangs – often with Moroccan roots – control distribution.
The so-called – a term used in The Netherlands has long been synonymous with extreme violence, assassinations and millions in profits – has firmly established itself in southern Spain. Their methods are sophisticated: they use small cells of contract killers, constantly change their locations and communicate via encrypted channels such as Sky ECC or EncroChat. Their goal? To maintain control over the smuggling routes and storage locations of cocaine.
Although less in the spotlight than their northern neighbours, Belgian criminal networks are also prominent in AndalusiaThey often work closely with Dutch groups, but increasingly they also develop their own operations.
Their specialty: Belgian networks are remarkably good at setting up distribution points, cash-hide flows via Luxembourg or Switzerland, and purchase real estate via front men. Their violence is less obvious, but at least as efficient – and always targeted.
France has a long history of drug violence, especially in cities as Marseille, where clans of North African descent have been fighting for dominance for decades. The crossing to Spain is therefore logical: French networks use the Costa del Sol as a safe zone for meetings, deal-making and as a hideout when things get too hot at home.
They operate with brute force and have heavy weapons. The link between the southern French port city and the southern Spanish coast is now so strong that local police in Malaga literally keeps lists of the nicknames of famous French drug lords.
Albanians, Serbs, Bosnians: the so-called are on the rise in Spain. Their assets? Iron discipline, military precision and connections with the SouthAmerican producers. Albanians are notorious for their loyalty, their cruelty and their ability to completely subdue radar to stay.
They are often the silent executors of the dirty work: monitoring of storage areas, transportation over land, liquidations on order. For money, never out of emotion.
The British were the first to do so in the 80s foot put ashore on the Costa del Sol with criminal intentions. Often older gangsters from London or Manchester, looking for a quiet leven with money that was 'forgotten' to be declared somewhere at the tax authorities. But they too have changed.
A , often from deprived neighborhoods, are more active and violent than their predecessors. They join larger networks, provide security for drug shipments or set up clubs and bars to launder money.
And the Spaniards themselves? They have long since stopped playing the supporting role. More and more young Spaniards from poor neighborhoods in Malaga, Cadiz or Almeria get involved in the drug world. Sometimes as errand boys, sometimes as drivers, but increasingly as local connections or intermediaries. They know the terrain, speak the language, and know how to make themselves invisible to their own authorities.
The drug violence on the Costa del Sol is not the work of a bende, one nationality or one type of criminal. It is the result of a cross-border network in which each country plays its own role: the Dutch people the logistics, the Albanians the weapons, the French the connections, the Belgians the money, the Spaniards the entrance.
And until that international web is cut, the Sunny Coast will remain a playground for the underworld – and a nightmare for those who want to keep the peace.
Great, below follows chapter 3 – journalistically in-depth, compellingly written and perfectly fitting into the structure of the article. The tone remains penetrating, with room for facts, names and underlying tension.
The Costa del Sol is not only a popular retreat for criminals, but also a deadly trap for those who make the wrong enemies. The list of murdered drug dealers, middlemen and hitmen grows longer every year — and more international. In this world of millions and crime, a human life is often worth less than a shipment of cocaine that goes missing.
The name Samir Bouyakhrichan may sound unfamiliar to the general public, but in the underworld he was one of the most feared players for years. This Moroccan Dutchman was shot dead in Marbella, near the luxurious Puerto Banús, in August 2014. His death is often seen as the start of a new, violent phase in the international drug war on the Costa.
Bouyakhrichan is said to have been the linchpin between South American producers and European distributors. His liquidation created a power vacuum that continues to this day. His name lives on in countless revenge attacks, internal settlements and escalations between rival networks.
The reckonings that follow are not isolated incidents. Each moord on the Costa has a function. They are intended to anxiety to sow seeds, claim territory, or simply to brutally settle outstanding debts.
These are just a few of the murders that actually happened news took. Many other dead disappear under the radar - literal.
For years, these murders remained unsolved, largely because communications between gangs were fully encrypted. Encrypted chat services such as paranormal gifts criminals years of a sense of inviolability. Until European law enforcement agencies managed to crack these networks.
Suddenly the police access to thousands of messages about planned murders, smuggling routes and corruption deals. Names that had previously only been mentioned in whispers now appeared in black and white. This made the Costa del Sol even more visible as a linchpin in a web of international assassinations.
In the underworld, there is one rule of thumb: whoever is at the top is on the hit list. Today's leaders are tomorrow's targets. And on the Costa del Sol, those lists circulate like wildfire. The liquidations follow a rhythm that is more reminiscent of Mexico than southern Europe.
There are indications that some hits are even hired 'outside' — hit teams from Eastern Europe, Colombia or even South Africa who fly to Spain, do the job and weer disappear. A operation, no emotion.
The most poignant? Sometimes innocents are sucked in. Like in Malaga, where a young waiter was killed in a gunfight that wasn’t meant for him. Or a Dutch woman who was shot together with her partner, while only he was a target.
De anxiety lives not only with the gangs, but also with ResidentsPeople are afraid to make statements, police information is lacking, and suspects are repeatedly released due to lack of evidence.
There is a strange silence in the streets of Marbella and Estepona. Not because the violence has stopped, but because everyone knows that it will happen at any moment. weer can erupt. The death list is never final. New names emerge, old corpses turn up. And as long as the profits are high and the risks low, the blood will continue to flow along the golden beaches of southern Spain.
Behind every shooting, every missing container and every in brand stabbed auto The same motive lurks on the Costa del Sol: money. No ideals, no vengeance, no honour. Just money. But it’s not thousands or tens of thousands of euros — it’s tens of millions that pass through the hands of criminals in a matter of days. The Costa has become a hub in a global money machine where violence and cash complement each other like partners in a deadly dance.
The location of the Costa del Sol is strategic gold worth: close to Africa, with excellent connections to Latin America via sea, and direct access to the European hinterland via France. Add to that a real estate market full of loopholes in the law to add, a lack of controls on foreign investment, and a population who is used to cash — and you have the ideal breeding ground for a criminal economy.
The real wealth on the Costa is not in the villas with infinity pools, but in the networks that finance them.
The criminal business model is simple: buy cocaine cheaply in Latin America, smuggle it into Europe via southern Spain, and sell it in countries such as The Netherlands, Germany, France and Scandinavia for a multiple. One successful container with 500 kilos of cocaine can quickly deliver. Per container.
Even if three shipments go wrong, one successful shipment is enough to be profitable. That is why the violence is so merciless: the stakes are so high that it is literally all or nothing. And everything means millions here.
What happens when all that money starts rolling in? Ironically, the first problem for criminals is not how to get it, but how to get rid of it—or at least, how to use it without arousing suspicion. After all, how do you explain five sports cars if you have no official income? How do you buy a three-million-euro villa if you work for the Spanish tax authorities registered as 'unemployed'?
The solution: money laundering. And it is happening on the Costa on a scale that is beginning to suffocate the legal economy.
🢢
Real estate remains the most popular and efficient way to launder money. Thousands of apartments and villas have been paid for with criminal money, often through complex networks of offshore companies, front man constructions or cash transactions. In neighborhoods like Sierra Blanca or La Zagaleta it is almost impossible to find out who the real owner is of some properties.
🢢
Hospitality businesses, especially in the luxury sector, are often set up as a facade. They appear to operate normally, but book huge turnovers that have no relation to the number of customers. In this way, criminal profits can be 'registered' as hospitality income, legally taxed, and then freely spent.
🢢
Another popular method is to set up fake companies that supposedly provide consultancy services or perform transport activities. These firms exist only on paper, but they do issue invoices to other companies within the network. In this way, money can be pumped around between countries and tax havens in a seemingly legal way.
🢢
The rise of cryptocurrency has added an extra dimension to money laundering. Bitcoin is used to move money rapidly outside of the banking system system to. Especially in international transactions, ransom payments and investments in tech projects crypto a popular vehicle.
The laundered money rarely stays idle. It is reinvested in legal structures, pumped into real estate projects, used to buy political influence or used to create even bigger parties. drugs to finance. This blurs the line between the legal and illegal economy.
In some municipalities on the Costa it is estimated that Project developers, notaries, banks and real estate agents profit — often unknowingly, sometimes deliberately — from the criminal capital.
As long as the money keeps rolling, the bullets stay quiet. After all, most gangs want to do business, not oorlog carry out — unless their interests are threatened. Whoever controls the money flows does not even have to be visible. And that is precisely why it is so difficult to win the battle: it is not the men with guns who call the shots, but the financiers, the money launderers and the middlemen with suits and Spanish accountants.
The Costa del Sol is not a frontline like Medellín or Sinaloa — it is a façade, a sunny backdrop where criminal economies have taken root at the heart of society. Today, sipping a cocktail at a beach club in Estepona, you could be sitting in a chair paid for with money that once financed a shipment of cocaine or a moord funded.
The stream of millions remains underground, but its effect is felt everywhere. In the prizes, in the projects, in the silent glances of those who do know how the game is really played.
Behind Andalusia’s sun-drenched coastline lies a complex world of smuggling routes, chemical labs and secret stashes. Where tourists see Marbella as paradise, drug cartels see it as a hub. And if you think it’s just cocaine, think again. The Costa del Sol has become a hub for a wide range of drugs — each with their own origins, price points and target audience.
This is no longer about smuggling in small speedboats or backpackers with double bottoms. This is logistics on an industrial scale.
For decades, hash has been a trusted product in the southern Spanish smuggling world. The proximity of Morocco – the world's largest producer of hash – makes Spain the gateway for this soft drug.
Despite the rise of cocaine, hash remains popular. Not only because it is easier to smuggle, but also because it seems to be involved in less violence. But make no mistake: bloody settlements also take place within the hash trade when parties disappear or competition flares up.
Without cocaine there would be no narcoticsoorlog on the Costa. This drug is the big moneymaker, and at the same time the cause of most violence.
The competition is fierce. One successful shipment is worth millions, but every error can be fatal. Control of this flow is responsible for most of the violence in southern Spain.
Where cocaine and hash have long dominated, there is a striking newcomer on the coast: crystal meth. The synthetic drug from Mexico and Eastern Europe is beginning a disturbing advance.
Spanish police say it is a worrying trend, especially since crystal meth production causes a lot of environmental damage and requires dangerous chemicals that can easily lead to explosions.
In addition to the classics, there are also more and more in circulation:
The smuggling of these substances is often on a smaller scale, but spreads rapidly thanks to social media, festivals and the Spanish party culture.
Spain is not a final destination — it is a way station. And that is because of three fundamental factors:
🟠 :
Spain is situated between Africa and Latin America, with direct access to both the Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas. Ideal for container transport and speedboat smuggling.
🟠 :
The port of Algeciras handles millions of containers annually, only a fraction of which are thoroughly checked. The cargo is often disguised among legal goods.
🟠 :
Drugs entering Spain are transported relatively easily overland into Europe. The French-Spanish border is porous, the authorities overburdened.
Although Spain is primarily an importing country, there are increasing signs that the royal also myself is becoming. Especially for synthetic drugs such as meth and MDMA, illegal labs regularly appear on farms or industrial premises in Andalusia and Murcia.
This domestic production reduces the risk of imports and significantly increases the profit margin. And as long as the infrastructure remains, Spain will not only be the gateway to Europe — but also the beating heart of the European narco-industry.
On the surface, it looks like a success. New developments are springing up on the outskirts of Estepona, luxury hotels are booked up in Marbella, and in Puerto Banús, multi-million dollar yachts change hands like second-hand cars. But dig a little deeper and you’ll see an underlying cash flow that is rarely reported to the tax authorities.
The Costa del Sol is not only a drug hub, but also a for the criminal money that this trade generates. And as long as the money keeps flowing, the violence is financed, masked and even legitimized.
You don't have to be a financial expert to see something is wrong. Restaurants are running during the off-season even though they are empty. Car dealerships sold exclusive cars to clients without a permanent residence. And apartments are sold for three times the market price — cash.
It is an economy where facade is more important than function. As long as there is building, buying and spending, it seems like things are going well. But the real engine is invisible. And dangerous.
The real estate sector is without a doubt the favorite playing field of criminal investors. There are numerous ways where drug money is converted into legal assets:
🔹 : In many cases, villas and apartments are still paid for partly or completely in cash. Despite European regulations, there are numerous estate agents in Spain who don't have a problem with this — as long as the commission comes in.
🔹 : Criminals use foreign companies in tax havens as owners of real estate properties. This way, the true identity of the copper hidden behind layers of legal appearance.
🔹 : A property is first sold to an accomplice for a low price, then 'renovated' with false invoices and then resold for a much higher amount — supposedly profit, in reality laundered money.
In addition to real estate, the hospitality sector is also a popular destination for black money. Restaurants, bars, nightclubs and even ice cream parlors can easily claim more turnover than they actually make, without much control.
Examples of money laundering practices in the hospitality industry:
Exclusive car dealers on the coast are also often used as money laundering vehicles. Criminals buy expensive cars — Audi RS6s, Range Rovers, Ferraris — with cash, have them registered in the names of intermediaries, and then use them as a status symbol or investment.
Sometimes cars are also exported on purpose and weer imported, thus creating a legal paper trail that masks the origin of the money.
In recent years the use of has exploded among criminal networks. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and privacy-focused tokens like Monero are used to move money at lightning speed, invest it, or even hide it in anonymous digital wallets.
Criminals convert drug money through:
Spanish police are now conducting several investigations into digital real estate transactions and crypto investments involving suspect origin.
At first glance they seem harmless — the cash machines that you see popping up all over the Costa del Sol: in small shops, at pizzerias, in clubs and even in nail salons. But behind the facade of a regular cash machine can be a whole money laundering scheme.
Especially in tourist areas such as Torremolinos, Marbella and Fuengirola, these (not from banks but from private parties) are on the rise. They are used to smartly , with minimal chance of detection.
The method is as simple as it is effective — and the big advantage: it all seems legal.
🔸 : Independent ATMs are much less heavily regulated than bank ATMs. They are not automatically supervised by the Banco de España, and audits are rare.
🔸 : Most ATMs are located in locations where there are many cash transactions, such as tourist hotspots. This makes high volumes less suspicious.
🔸 : The money is divided into small amounts over hundreds of transactions and multiple cards (so-called structuring of smurfing), making it difficult to recognize a pattern.
🔸 : In many cases, those who own a vending machine do not have to report it suspect activities — unless they involve extremely large transactions, and even then enforcement is often lacking.
In 2023, a network was dismantled in Malaga in which five ATMs in three catering establishments were used to make money in less than a year. to launder cash drug money. The owners of the businesses worked with foreign criminals who used pre-programmed prepaid cards to withdraw money each week in instalments of €300 to €500. Because the system worked with foreign accounts, no Spanish bank was involved — and therefore no alarm bells were raised.
Although this method is increasingly found, it still lacks a solid legal framework and targeted control mechanisms. Cooperation between police, financial institutions and international law enforcement agencies is increasing, but for now this remains one of the most effective and underexposed methods. ways to recycle criminal money.
Until then, these ATMs on the Costa del Sol will continue to spit out not just money, but power. They are the stationary frontline of a oorlog which is rarely visible — but every day is being fed.
So much for the ATMs.
Money laundering on this scale cannot be done without the complicity — conscious or unconscious — of professionals. Notaries who do not ask questions suspect transactions. Accountants who prepare 'flexible' reports. Lawyers who set up companies without ever physically seeing their clients.
Although there legislation exists, enforcement lags behind. Controls are limited, sanctions minimal. And that makes the system vulnerable.
The millions don't disappear into suitcases under beds. They are reinvested, in even bigger projects. Residential areas, hotel chains, tech companies. In this way, criminal capital penetrates ever deeper into the legal economy — until the difference between 'clean' and 'dirty' money is barely distinguishable.
And that is exactly what makes it so dangerous: the system seems to work. Construction is taking place, work is being done, investments are being made. But the foundations are rotten.
Great, here's Chapter 7: a penetrating look at the gangs pulling the strings on the Costa del Sol. We unravel who they are, where they come from, and how they work together or fight each other. Not fiction, but the harsh reality of organized crime along the Spanish coast.
Behind every liquidation, every intercepted container and every million-dollar property in Marbella or Estepona lies a network. Sometimes small and local, sometimes widespread across several continents. Dozens of criminal gangs operate on the Costa del Sol today — each with their own structure, style, origin and degree of violence.
What do they share? A ruthless ambition to grab a piece of the lucrative drug trade. Power is money. And whoever controls the coast has access to billions.
Although the international networks are the most visible, we should not forget the local players. is a collective name for a series Spaans-Andalusian gangs that have been active in the hashish trade between Morocco and Spain for decades.
Their strength lies in:
They are less visible, but all the more efficient when it comes to transportation and storage. They often provide the logistical infrastructure on which foreign networks are built.
No network has had as much influence on the violence on the Costa over the past decade as the . This one group — with roots in the Netherlands and Belgium, and mainly members of Moroccan descent — has transformed the southern Spanish coast into their logistical backyard.
What characterizes them:
The name Taghi still rings around Marbella. Not as a ghost story, but as a symbol for a generation of criminals who exported violence from Amsterdam-West to the marinas of Málaga.
Where the Mocro Mafia excels in visibility and speed, operate the right in the shadows. Their methods are military. Their loyalty blind. Their violence clinical.
They manage:
Albanians are considered reliable, silent and tough. They often work as subcontractors for larger cartels, but also build their own routes up — often towards Italy and Eastern Europe.
Gangs from the South of France, especially Marseille and Lyon, have found their way to the Costa del Sol as a safe haven. They are often involved in:
They are less structured than other gangs, but are notorious for their impulsive violence. Many of the gun battles in Torremolinos and Fuengirola can be traced back to conflicts within or with French networks.
The British have a long history on the Costa, often starting as expats who wanted to hide money. But today young gangs from Liverpool, Manchester and London are also active.
They are involved in:
Where the old guard focused on hiding criminal assets, the newcomers are focused on action and quick profits. Sometimes that leads to clashes — and deaths.
De , Italy’s most powerful mafia organization, may not be a big presence on the streets of Spain, but it plays a key role in the background. They finance shipments, invest in real estate and use Spain as a transit country to northern Italy and Switzerland.
They operate discreetly, through front men, and have an unparalleled international financial infrastructure. If someone needs money to buy 1.000 kilos of cocaine, chances are it will go through Calabria.
Meanwhile, Spanish groups are making their way up. Especially young people from poor suburbs of Sevilla, Granada and Malaga enter the drug world. They first work as couriers or drivers, but quickly climb the ranks.
Some start their own networks, often with extreme loyalty and few scruples. The Guardia Civil speaks of a 'worrying nationalization of organized crime'.
Although some gangs work together, it is not a harmonious whole. The competition is fierce. Conflicts arise regularly, especially around port access, warehouses and distribution lines. Sometimes this leads to temporary alliances. More often to bloodshed.
Increasing repression also leads to gangs organizing themselves more cleverly. There are networks that work together through a kind of criminal 'joint ventures' — where Spanish, Dutch and Albanian groups together finance and secure a single shipment. The risk is shared. So is the profit.
Excellent. Here comes Chapter 8, which examines how the Spanish police are dealing with the escalating violence and rapid professionalization of organized crime on the Costa del Sol. We look at their successes, shortcomings, international cooperation — and the growing question: is this still manageable?
The Costa del Sol has long ceased to be a classic area of operation for police officers and detectives. Where in the past the focus was mainly on burglary prevention and road safety, they now have to operate against heavily armed gangs, multi-million investments with unclear origins, and hyper-organised criminal networks that operate across several continents.
And although the Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional regularly achieve successes, insiders are increasingly sounding the alarm: .
In cities like Malaga, Marbella and Algeciras, police units are struggling with structural problems:
🔴 : There are simply too few officers and detectives specialized in organized crime, cybercrime and financial fraud.
🔴 : While criminals work with encrypted communications, drones and crypto, some Spanish law enforcement agencies still work with outdated software and manual files.
🔴 : Liquidations often remain unsolved due to insufficient forensic analysis, lack of witnesses or slow access to telecom data.
🔴 : In a region where millions of dollars in cash circulate, the temptation is great for local officials and agents to 'look the other way'. Corruption is not a structural problem, but it is a real risk.
Ironically, it is often not the Spanish state itself that puts pressure for more enforcement, but These countries actively invest in local investigation teams, provide digital expertise to Spanish police services, and even send investigators along temporarily.
Also plays an increasingly important role. Through joint operations (such as Operation Ronald, Operation Limit of Operation Alfil) international networks are exposed. Yet Spain remains reactive in many areas: the real initiatives come from outside.
Some successes are achieved through . In recent years, several gangs have been tackled thanks to confidential sources within the organization. But this strategy has risks:
Spain has the legal means to use informants, but lacks the infrastructure to protect them long-term.
The increased cooperation between countries has already produced spectacular results:
Yet the problem lies in the implementation. Procedures are slow, jurisdiction is fragmented, and language barriers cause delays. Criminals, on the other hand, operate without borders — they are fast.
In conversations with anonymous police sources from Malaga, one sentiment keeps coming back: There is a sense that the violence is too great, the money too deeply rooted, and the legislation too weak.
“Everyone knows someone in a villa who pays too much cash,” says a source. “But without proof we can’t do anything. And you don’t get proof if everyone keeps quiet.”
There is frustration about judges who let suspects go for "lack of evidence" and about prosecutors who, under political pressure, opt for no-case or lenient sentencing.
Criminals today work with drones, crypto wallets, deepfake identities and professionally secured villas. The Spanish police? They still fight with pen and paper against an enemy with digital missiles.
Yet there are signs of hope: more resources, more international pressure, and a growing awareness within Spain that this is no longer a local problem, but a .
But the question remains: how long can the police keep up with this before the system itself cracks?
The comparison with Medellín — the notorious bastion of Colombian cartel violence in the 80s — is increasingly heard in Spanish media, international reports and even Marbella city council meetings. The combination of cocaine money, luxury, anxiety and murders in broad daylight day inevitably conjures up that specter.
But Spain is not Colombia. Not yet. The question is:
The criminal power structures on the Costa are constantly changing. Where once large cartels ruled, now large They are harder to detect, but also more vulnerable.
Changes that are emerging:
🔹
Instead of big wars between gangs, we often see short, targeted actions: one liquidation, one threat, then silence. That makes it harder to predict, but also easier to anticipate.
🔹
More and more Spaniards themselves are climbing up the hierarchy. They know the language, the local structures, and are often less conspicuous than their foreign colleagues. The Spanish police are seriously concerned about this: these are boys of 20, 21, without education, but with weapons and ambitions.
🔹
Criminals are increasingly using This makes the classic police approach – following, listening in, observing – less effective.
Despite everything, there are also encouraging signs. In 2023 and early 2024, the Spanish authorities recorded a series of :
✅
In several operations, more than 6.000 kilos were seized in one go — in containers with fruit, fish and even flowers.
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More than 200 properties, mainly in Malaga and Marbella, have been confiscated on legal grounds on suspicion of money laundering.
✅
For the first time in Spain, heavy prison sentences have been handed down to financial advisors and notaries who participated in money laundering schemes. A clear warning to the 'top layer' of the crime.
✅
Financial institutions are increasingly sounding the alarm on suspicious investments in real estate or hospitality. This indicates a growing awareness — and better cooperation with the judiciary.
For a long time, the violence on the Costa remained a taboo subject. Residents were silent, politicians avoided it. But that silence seems to be breaking. Local media dare to name names, citizens start vigilantes, and also in the toerisme another sound is heard: “We can sun “Don't keep selling while there's blood on the streets.”
In cities like Estepona and Fuengirola it grows for action. Think about:
A few arrests and raids will not solve the problem. What is needed is systemic action. Spain must invest in:
Only then can the trend be reversed. Only then will the Costa change from a playground for criminals into a place where they are really dealt with.
The sun shines mercilessly on the streets of Marbella. On the beach sounds of laughter, in the distance the sound of a car's engine jetski, and in the shade of a chic terrace a cappuccino is served with a smile. Life on the Costa seems good. Maybe too good.
But those who live here feel it. A certain tension. A look that lingers a little too long. An inexplicable silence after nightfall. Villas where no one ever knows who lives there. live. Neighborhoods where money smells of fear.
What is at stake on the Costa del Sol is not just the security of a region. It is also the , , and the who until now preferred to look away rather than see that the underworld has nested in her heart.
It is tempting to think in black and white. Criminals versus police. Good versus evil. But the reality on the Costa is more complex. Organized crime has become so deeply intertwined with society that it is often no longer visible where the line lies. A estate agent with a luxury office that prefers not to ask questions. A notary who 'takes care of the paperwork'. A municipal council that does not want any difficulties with an investor who pays cash.
The real battle is not always on the streets, but in choices. In systems that have been bending with money for years. In people who remain silent because speaking is dangerous. And in governments that do not dare or cannot act against an enemy that is silent, rich and ruthless.
Meanwhile, an uncomfortable but increasingly louder question is lurking in the background: Not as a miracle cure, but as a way to break the power of the gangs where it hurts them most: at the source of their income.
This idea is gaining ground internationally. In Latin America, but also in parts of Canada and Portugal experiments are being conducted with regulated models. Even within the European Union, the number of votes this calls for a more pragmatic policy, especially regarding soft drugs.
But Spain remains cautious. Despite the fact that the country has been a transit country for decades and the social Costs of the ban are clear, there is little political enthusiasm for a fundamental debate. The conservative forces are strong, and the public discourse remains stuck in the rhetoric of 'fight and condemn'.
Yet every now and then something new is heard. In Cádiz, Sevilla and even Malaga are seeing municipal initiatives that focus on harm reduction, prevention and regulation of soft drug use. Not because they are naive, but because they realize that repression alone does not work.
The question is no longer whether current policies are failing. That reality is on the streets every day. The question is: Does Spain dare to open itself up to an alternative?
There are young police officers who risk their lives to expose networks. There are journalists who continue to write despite threats. There are judges who dare to convict. And there are citizens who say: enough.
The future of the Costa del Sol is not fixed. It is malleable. And that is precisely where hope lies. But only if Spain, and Europe, find the courage to stop using the sun as a cover for dark things. Only if people realize that luxury without control has a price. And that freedom does not just mean doing what you want — but also protecting what belongs to you. value is.
In the shade of palm trees, beneath the sound of waves, a battle is being waged that we can no longer ignore. For if paradise does not defend itself — or renew itself — it will automatically become a place where only predators flourish.
The Costa del Sol has beauty. But beauty without justice… is nothing more than a backdrop.
This special has been written especially and exclusively for cazahar.com
