Concerns of a mafia turf war are growing on the Costa del Sol following a dramatic spike in violence this week.
It comes after the discovery of two dumped bodies (one on a Ronda road, the other in Puerto Banus), followed by a shooting in Marbella.
According to reports, the Policia Nacional force is investigating potential links between the three cases and whether they are part of a tit-for-tat settling of scores between rival organised crime gangs.
First body discovered Sunday
The bloody episode began with the discovery of a body dumped on a road in the Ronda region of Malaga on Sunday.
The corpse was found on a rural track near Alpandeire, in the Serrania de Ronda, by a shepherd who said it had not been there earlier in the day.
The Guardia Civil opened a judicial investigation, with forensic reports later confirming that the victim had suffered multiple injuries.
Local sources said the deceased was not a resident of Alpandeire, and evidence suggests the body may have been moved to the site.
Body dumped in Puerto Banus
Just hours later at around noon on Monday, a semi-rigid speedboat – believed to be a so-called narcolancha – was seen approaching the entrance of the port at Puerto Banus, Marbella.
According to eyewitnesses, masked individuals aboard the boat threw a body into the water before fleeing back out to sea at speed.
Emergency services raced to the scene but found the person already deceased.
The identity of this man also remains unknown, and an autopsy is expected to determine whether he died before or after entering the water.
Sources close to the case say drug trafficking is a likely line of inquiry, though no arrests have been made and the Guardia Civil has not ruled out other possibilities.
Man shot in leg in Marbella
A man has been shot in Marbella in the third suspected act of gangland violence this week.
It emerged only this afternoon that police discovered a man shot in the leg late on Monday night.
According to reports, the Policia Nacional discovered the victim when a patrol vehicle pulled over the car he was travelling in.
The vehicle had been driving ‘suspiciously’ in a residential area. Inside the car were two men, including the shooting victim.
Officers called emergency services, who took the injured man to a nearby hospital.
His condition is not believed to be life-threatening. Police have opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of the shooting, without ruling out any hypothesis.
Read more Costa del Crime news at the Spanish Eye.
