Police have uncovered hundreds of weapons stored in two illegal arsenals in Palma and Zamora.

In all 276 guns were found, all of which were in good working order and many which had never been used. Besides the guns, police also found numerous grenades, mortars, bazookas, flame throwers and 350 kilos of ammunition. Some weapons are officially classified as ´weapons of war´ for which no civilian licence is permitted.

Five people were arrested as part of the operation, which lasted several months, and are accused of illegal possession and arms trafficking.

Two men wearing ski masks and brandishing guns robbed a pharmacy in Manacor on Saturday. Only one employee was in the shop at the time and the two men held him at gunpoint and made him hand over the contents of the till. The robbers then fled, making off with around 900 euros.

Police says the robbers drove away from the crime scene in the direction of Palma. Several raids across the city failed to produce any suspects.

The victim told police that one of the men had a shotgun and the other a pistol. Although shaken he was otherwise unhurt.

Photo: M.M.

The Guardia Civil made a gruesome discovery on Sunday when they found the body of a missing businessman. Miguel Angel, 45, the owner of a supermarket in Santa Ponca, went missing last Friday in Peguera. A search party discovered what is believed to be his body in a forested area near the top of a hill.

An initial report concluded that the man died from knife wounds, although the Guardia Civil say it is too soon to say whether they were self-inflicted or not. A bloody knife was found 20 metres from the body. Following a post mortem, investigators concluded that the man, who was found face down with a large wound to the abdomen, could have inflicted the injury himself before staggering some distance and falling down.

Results from the autopsy will be made available in the coming days.

Photo: Guardia Civil

A joint investigation by the Civil Guard, the National Police and the Local Police in Manacor in close collaboration led to the arrest of the gang. Following a spate of robberies in the Llevant, the Civil Guard and National Police began to suspect they were tracking the same people and decided to pool resources.

The gang´s criminal activities stretched across the Llevant area to include Porto Cristo, S’Illot, Cala Morlanda and Sa Coma. They also targeted homes in Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, Son Servera and Capdepera. The initial investigations began several months ago. Given the complexities arising from the investigation, the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard and their counterparts from the National Police Corps initiated the so-called ‘Operation Duke’.

Investigators monitored the gang for several months using discreet surveillance methods to ascertain how well organized they were. It was discovered that some members were placed in charge of monitoring the movements of householders, while others were given the task of preventing the Civil Guard or the National Police from catching the perpetrators in the act of burgling properties. Plasma televisions, computers, music, cameras, jewelry, tools and clothing constituted the bulk of the stolen property targeted by the gang.

The final phase of ‘Operation Duke’ was conducted on Tuesday in which a number of buildings were sealed off to prevent gang members from escaping during the arrests. The bulk of the action took place in s’Illot, with a father and son being arrested at one address. Among the eleven detainees, who appeared in court yesterday, ten are of Spanish nationality and one is German.

Some of those arrested are also involved in drug trafficking, with much of the stolen property being exchanged for cocaine, it is thought. (WC)

Thirty people have been arrested in recent months in Palma for having rigged about 150 marriages of convenience between Spanish women and Nigerian men in order to obtain residence permits. The Diario de Mallorca reports that a Policia Nacional operation in Palma has led to 68 arrests across Spain, most of them in Alicante, where the leaders of the illegal marriage syndicate are thought to be based. It is estimated that since last June up to 600 fraudulent marriages in a dozen Spanish provinces have been held using false documents. It was in mid-June when the Anti Counterfeiting and Immigration Unit (UCRIF) of the Policia Nacional in Palma detected a notable rise in the number of Nigerians applying for residence permits in Spain after marrying Spanish women. The agents began to investigate these marriages, which were held at the Church of Sant Francesc de Palma. The investigation by Palma police ascertained that the network it uncovered was not acting alone in Mallorca.

The modus operandi of the organisation was to recruit Nigerians who were in an irregular situation in Spain or wishing to enter the country, with women willing to marry them for money. Thus, the men paid 15,000 euros to the leaders of the organization, 3,000 of which was handed over to Spanish women. Some of them were allowed to marry up to four times, furthering the accusations to include bigamy. In less than six months, it is estimated that there have been around 600 such marriages across Spain.

Socias fired the warning shot when asked about the recent judicial decisions in a handful of cases to release suspected drug dealers on bail and stressed that the security service should be given all the support they need to win the fight against drugs in Spain.

Socias was yesterday on hand to witness the destruction of 3′500 kilos of hashish which was seized during a major raid on a rural estate in Valldemossa earlier this year.