2,500 kilos of cocaine found on Panamian boat off Canaries - Typically Spanish News

Tue, 21 Feb 2006, 23:14


The 2,500 kilos of cocaine which were hidden on board a Panamian fishing vessel boarded off the Canary Islands. Photo - EFE.

Twenty one people have been arrested in an anti-drugs operation which has impounded a Panamanian fishing vessel in the Canaries, loaded with 2,500 kilos of cocaine.

The four crew members of the �Mars� were amongst those arrested. Another seven people were arrested in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, four in Fuerteventura, four in Madrid, and another two in M�laga and Badajoz.

Police say they were all part of a network which brought large quantities of the drug into the country. The Colombian leader of the gang, arrested in Madrid, had been under investigation for more than a year.
The vessel was boarded 30 miles to the north of Tenerife."

Tenerife News - Tenerife palms face red beetle menace





Remember the bad old days of Dutch elm disease and the havoc it wrought on the British landscape? Well, there are fears that a similar ecological disaster could befall the archipelago's palm trees, thanks to another imported insect, the red palm weevil, a bug which is already getting its teeth into trees in Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.

It is thought the first of these weevils arrived in a shipment of ornamental palms and Tenerife environmentalists and horticulturalists have been nervously monitoring the evolution of this alien invasion ever since.

The agricultural association ASAGA decided to step in last week and demand that 250 palm trees from the Spanish mainland, which might well be carriers of what is known here as the picudo rojo, be refused entry to Santa Cruz port where, on the morning of January 24, they were to be off-loaded, just hours before a ministerial ban was scheduled to come into force.

Meanwhile fears for the survival of palms in the islands already affected are growing. The weevil appears to thrive in the Canary climate and has a phenomenal capacity to spread. Twenty new cases were declared in a period of four weeks in Fuerteventura where fifty cases had already been officially declared. A further two hundred trees are under suspicion of harbouring the insects and every passing day brings new reports of sightings.

The regional government has banned the pruning of palms throughout the islands but the prohibition is being widely disregarded, even by municipal workers. Experts are blaming the fashion for drastic pruning (and in particular cutting off green palm branches) for the rapid propagation of the insect in the Canaries.


Red Palm Weevil

The weevils are especially attracted by the sap of pruned palms. They burrow in and lay eggs in the crown. The larvae then work their way through the entire tree which dies within two years. In an age of hi-tech advances, the accepted means of combating the insect seems primitive and drastic: felling and burning.

Already environment officials are describing the situation as "an ecological catastrophe without precedent".

Experts are angry at the way the situation has been handled. Despite years of forewarning and reports of the devastating effects of the weevil in places like Elche and Murcia on the Spanish mainland, the authorities here failed to take adequate measures to prevent the entrance of the picudo rojo and yet another pest has gained entry to the archipelago.

The ministerial ban looks to many like a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted."

2006 KTM Adventure 990 Press Presentation - Dirt Rider Magazine
Press Release



Gio Sala, Marc Coma and Cyril Despres
Photography: H. Peuker

After the Dakar 2006 for the first time on a bike again, the three KTM factory riders were impressed by the the new KTM 990 Adventure. Marc Coma, Cyril Despres and Giovanni Sala didn't miss the chance to test the latest model at the press presentation on Fuerteventura/Spain. All three agreed, this bike is fantastic, off- and on-road.

The KTM 990 Adventure comes in two varieties: the KTM 990 Adventure S, the ultra sporty model with longer suspension travel and new 'Dakar-Design' blue optics sourcing its origins in rally sport. The KTM 990 Adventure is a touch lower than the companion S model and features improved safety factors through its ABS. The 990 Adventure comes in two variations of the new two-color design: orange-grey and black-grey."

A young couple have been arrested for stealing ten motor vehicles and 4 car break-ins.

Their actions had created "well-known social alarm" in Fuerteventura - With their actions, the accused delinquents comitted "crimes against the security of the traffic and serious consequences in the road security of people and vehicles"
The couple - Sonia To S., 22 years old and native of Corunna and Andres R. P., of equal age from Badajoz - comitted the crimes during last November and December in the capital of Fuerteventura, Puerto del Rosario.
The defendants "always chose cars similar to each other as far as mark, model and age" and abandoned them after robbing them of their contents.

icCheshireOnline - Accidental death verdict for DJ Gary

Feb 1 2006
By Paul Newham, Crewe Chronicle

A FORMER nightclub DJ may have died as a result of under-inflated tyres on the hired motorbike he was riding, an inquest heard.
Gary Walker, 35, who was resident DJ Gary G at Nantwich nightclub Gregory's, lost his life in a road accident on the holiday island of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands just three weeks after moving there to start a new life in March 2004.
A Spanish police report read at Wednesday's hearing said Mr Walker, formerly of Mossford Avenue, Crewe, was riding down a rough unlit side road after dark when his machine left the road coming into a bend.
No other vehicles were involved, and expert witness PC Patrick Byrne, an accident investigation officer with Cheshire Police, said a combination of under-inflated tyres and sudden braking could have caused Mr Walker to lose control.
He said: 'The report states the tyres were around half the recommended pressure, but that is normal when riding on soft, sandy ground as it gives more grip. However, it also affects performance when taking corners.
'If Gary braked suddenly, the bike may have reacted differently to how he expected, but it is impossible to say what may have caused him to brake like that.'
Mr Walker's widow Amanda Haywood, now remarried, said the couple spent the day of his death, March 13, at a beach about 20 miles from their home in Corralejo.
She spent the day sunbathing while Mr Walker rode his hired Suzuki Bandit motorbike around the sand dunes, heading back to Corralejo some time after 4pm to collect a friend for a beach party.
Mrs Haywood said: 'When he didn't come back I became worried and eventually made my own way back to Corralejo and started asking around our usual haunts. But it wasn't until the next morning I found out what had happened.'
Police found Mr Walker's body off the quiet by-road between Corralejo and Lajares at 11.30pm.
A post-mortem examination showed he died of severe abdominal injuries.
Mrs Haywood added that her husband had lived for his DJ-ing, and was excited about his future working in Fuerteventura's lively bars and clubs after several years entertaining clubbers in Nantwich.
Mr Walker's mother, Rita, of Pwllheli, said: 'He was a very accomplished rider.'

Verdict: Accidental death.