Sunset on Puerto Banús. Photograph: Harry Marx/Alamy
The new international crime organisations have made Marbella their centre of operations. And as violence rises, the police lag far behind
Thu 20 May 2021 01.00 EDT
One morning last autumn, a dozen or so locals were eating breakfast at a cafe under a clear Marbella sky, in front of the offices of the Special Organised Crime Response Unit (Greco), on the Costa del Sol. The property is nondescript â an unobtrusive building in a working-class neighbourhood â and only someone with a sharp eye for detail might notice the two security cameras monitoring the front entrance. The cafeâs regulars drank coffee and ate toast, unaware that only 24 hours earlier, in another part of the city, Greco agents had rescued a man from a garage, alive, but with holes drilled through his toes. It was the latest local case of