Drugs wars on the up on the Costa Del sol.
In 2018 violence has escalated between rival gangs on the Costa Del Sol. Many new organised crime gangs have settled in the Malaga region.
The first murder related to drug crime in 2018 was the kidnap of an Croatian man and his wife on may 7th his body was found riddled with bullets and beaten beyond recognition in a Marbella ditch. His wife was found alive and well.
The second killing was that of David Avila Ramos known locally as Maradona for his love of football but lack of footballing skills. In the days before his death Ramos had a visit from two police officers who told him “they’re coming for you have you got anything you’d like to tell us”. Earlier than year in March someone drove a stolen vehicle into his gym in San Pedro Estepona. Days after his beach cafe Heaven was burned down. His partner in the cafe was a Naoufal Mrabet and police found his body in a burnt out Ferrari in Dubai the very next day. The authorities in Dubai reported it as an accident.
Ramos had spent most of his 37 years of life in the drugs trade on the Costa Del Sol and had dealing with people from Holland, England, France and Colombia. He was known to have many enemies and had run up large debts but he still told the police “nothing is going to happen to me.”
On the 12th may 2018 Ramon was in his car and a man on a motorbike shot him 5 times throw the side window. The police suspected a drug gang called the Swedes a group of hit men of Arabic origin living in Malmo Sweden as the police had information that they had tried to kill him on a number of occasions.
Officers from the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit arrested nine men from the Swedes gang, all but one under 30 years of age. This crime gang were described by the police as the most violent and bloodthirsty ever to be seen in southern Spain. 
The increase in violence on the Costa is surpassing levels ever seen before. Bombs, burnt out buildings, tortured bodies, have all been found or used to scare other gangs away.
One gang used a knife to carve a joker smile face on another gang member, this means slicing his mouth open from left and right up towards his ears.
The fact that “the Swedes” gang was prepared to move in on the Costa Del Sol from Sweden is an alarming development.
The crime gang bosses live on the Costa Del Sol in luxury villas hidden from the outside world. The bosses prefer every thing to run smoothly so each can provide the other with certain services. The laundering of money is easily done here there is the port of Algeciras for the import of cocaine, this port is the fourth biggest container port in the world. Morocco is a short high speed boat ride away for bringing in hashish. Then you have the occupants of La Linea and Campo de Gibraltar to move there wares. When everything is running smooth and everyone pays the other and no one robs each other everyone’s a winner. But when things go wrong for what ever slight reason scores have to settled quickly, no one in the drugs game can afford to lose face as this is seen as a sign of weakness.
So why has 2018 seen the rise in crime gang related violence the police believe the murders are because of the theft of goods from Mexican and Colombian firms. The police also believe that two major Dutch gangs are fighting for more of the market place.
The police special unit thinks that the gangs are getting younger and have no fear of reputations of older firms. They are only interested in earning quick and easy money driving big fast cars and living the life of a rock star in VIP clubs in Marbella and Puerto Banús.