Police tackling organised crime on the Costa del Sol have arrested more than 600 people so far this year, it has emerged.
Speaking on Tuesday, Malaga’s provincial police commissioner, Roberto Rodríguez Velasco, vowed ‘we will not back down’ as he revealed authorities had seized more than 75 tonnes of narcotics.
‘We will not allow those who disrupt public order to get away with it,’ he said, ‘They will be identified and brought before a judge, no matter the cost.’
Acknowledging the dangers officers face, Rodríguez Velasco said armed and dangerous criminal networks will not intimidate law enforcement.
‘We will not yield, nor allow those who undermine public safety to go unpunished,’ he reiterated.
His warning comes after an intense month of police operations, during which Malaga’s judicial police unit dismantled seven drug trafficking gangs.
According to Javier Salas, the Spanish government’s sub-delegate in Malaga, this has been ‘the most decisive and forceful blow against organised crime in our province in recent times.’
In the past 30 days alone, officers have arrested 55 individuals, seized nearly nine tonnes of drugs, and confiscated around 40 firearms, several of which were military-grade.
The commisioner added: ‘A picture speaks louder than words,’ referring to the display of seized weapons laid out at the police station.
‘Just in the past month, we’ve taken 37 firearms off the streets,’ he confirmed, highlighting the dangerous nature of those they’re dealing with.
The figures from the past year paint a broader picture, with over 600 arrests, 170 weapons seized, 70 tonnes of hashish, and 5.2 tonnes of cocaine intercepted.
This sustained offensive is part of the Costa del Sol Plan, launched over a year ago to combat escalating criminal activity in the region.
‘We know there’s still a long way to go,’ Rodriguez Velasco admitted.
He stressed that investigations don’t end with an arrest: ‘We always work to identify who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes. The goal is to dismantle entire criminal structures, not just take down the foot soldiers.’
The commissioner’s remarks follow two difficult days in Malaga, where three bodies were discovered in separate incidents across the province in less than 24 hours.
The Guardia Civil has opened three separate investigations after the discovery of two men and one woman.
One man was dumped in the waters of Puerto Banus, another abandoned on a road in the Serranía de Ronda, and the third washed up on Mezquitilla beach in Algarrobo.
Read more Costa del Crime news at the Spanish Eye.
