The rapid fire of gunshots in Marbella on Tuesday night were performed by local police, it has emerged.
The force fired several warning shots into the air while attempting to stop a car filled with alleged members of a smuggling gang.
The vehicle was suspected of being involved in fuel supply operations for drug-trafficking boats.
The incident, first reported by the Spanish Eye, unfolded shortly after 9.30pm in La Campana where residents reported hearing around half a dozen gunshots.
Some locals filmed the scene, initially fearing another gang-related shootout.
Police sources have since confirmed that the shots were fired by officers as a deterrent, after the occupants of a suspicious vehicle ignored orders to stop and fled the scene.
According to local reports, the vehicle had been refuelling and was travelling alongside a second car acting as a lookout, a tactic commonly associated with so-called petaqueros – individuals who transport fuel used by hash-smuggling speedboats.
Despite the police intervention, the suspects managed to escape.
The vehicle was later found abandoned and loaded with around 20 fuel canisters, though no arrests were made and the occupants had already fled.
The case remains under investigation.
Footage shared online showed multiple police cars with their lights flashing, while officers were seen scouting the streets.
One resident said: ‘From my house I heard at least five gunshots, just before 10pm.’
‘I heard them too from San Pedro,’ another added. The Spanish Eye has contacted Marbella police for comment.
Marbella has witnessed a series of shootings so far in December, including at least one other in Nueva Andalucia.
The violent episodes began on December 2, when at least three shots were fired shortly after 1pm on Calle Jose Iturbi, in the area of Las Albarizas.
Two of the bullets hit a parked car’s windscreen and a bus stop, but fortunately, no one was caught in the crossfire.
It appears the shots were fired by an individual in a car, who quickly fled the scene. Investigators believe the incident stemmed from a traffic dispute between rival clan members.
A day later (December 3), a 26-year-old was hit by a bullet in the tibia at around 10pm on Avenida Miguel de Cervantes in Nueva Andalucia.
One local resident told this paper: ‘It was quite scary hearing the shots, I just hope the victim is okay.’
They said that ‘unfortunately’ the crime is ‘not surprising’, adding: ‘We all know that this is a gangster’s paradise so I think we’re a bit desensitised to it all now.
‘This is certainly not the first shooting in Nueva Andalucia and it won’t be the last, just don’t get involved with the wrong people and you won’t be in the firing line.’
