Laurence Dollimore
THE victim of a shooting in Marbella was reportedly targeted in his genitals as part of a ‘warning’ from gangsters.
The German national, of Arab origin, was gunned down outside the Real Padel club, near Puerto Banus and Nueva Andalucia.
It followed two other shootings just days earlier; one in Puerto Banus on December 24 and another in Benalmadena on December 26.
In the Real Club incident, one man told Malaga Hoy that the victim was taken by surprise when leaving the gym.
He said thugs who had been waiting in a parked car for him ‘got out of the car and shot him’.
The victim is then said to have run inside the club ‘to ask for help because he was shot in the leg and genitals three or four times.’
The man, in his 30s, was rushed to hospital where he was treated for at least one bullet wound to his leg and ‘other traumas’.
The shooting is believed to be a warning sign from some form of criminal group, because the bullets were of a small calibre.
There have been no arrests despite a rapid response from both national and local police.
Both forces are investigating any possible connection between today’s shooting and that of December 24, which saw German man of Arab origin gunned down outside a pharmacy.
The victim survived after running and hiding inside the Cristamar shopping centre in Puerto Banus, but sustained a bullet to the leg.
There have been no arrests over the shooting, with police suspecting the incident to be a ‘settling of accounts’ between rival gangs.
Just two days later on December 26, two victims escaped with their lives after being shot at in Benalmadena.
A car is reported to have intercepted a vehicle on Calle Poseidon at around 7.45pm.
When the passengers of the intercepted car got out, they were met with gunshots, fired by a shooter ‘wearing a hood’, according to witnesses.
The two targets fled down a dried up river embankment that is adjacent to the road.
While they suffered some bruising, they were able to avoid being shot.
READ MORE: Panic as man is gunned down outside Marbella shopping centre
A Policia Nacional source told El Español: “They have been located and do not have gunshot wounds.”
The force said the investigation is ongoing and that the motive for the attack remains unknown.
Several neighbours called emergency services last night after being startled by the sound of gun shots.
Footage shared online showed firefighters, paramedics and police at the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing a hooded man flee the area in a high-powered SUV.
It came just days after armed police carried out a series of raids against an international drug cartel in Malaga and across Andalucia.
Footage shared by the Guardia Civil showed armed officers with riot shields and helmets storming a number of properties across Huelva, Sevilla, Granada and Malaga.
The operation is said to have dismantled a ‘powerful international crime gang’, with a total of 31 people arrested across Andalucia.
The raids began on December 18, with authorities seizing 278kg of cocaine, 3.8 tonnes of hashish, 180 cannabis plants and more than €500,000 in cash.
The Guardia Civil said it also recovered various ‘weapons of war’, with footage of the haul showing snipers and AK-47s.
The suspects face a number of charges, including belonging to a criminal organisation, possessing and carrying weapons of war, money laundering, smuggling, falsifying documents, vehicle theft and more.
The probe began after the Guardia Civil began looking into a ‘very active’ mafia with links to Colombia, Panama and Portugal.
The group allegedly focused on trafficking cocaine and cannabis resin from South America and Africa into Europe.
The crime group is said to have used shipping containers, sailboats and high-speed vessels to deliver the narcotics by sea.
Authorities said they also used private planes and smaller aircraft to traffick the drugs.
Other items seized included five properties, a jet ski, 10 vehicles, computer devices and cryptocurrency documents.
Meanwhile, 51 bank accounts have been frozen via a court order. The investigation was the work of a collaboration involving the USA’s DEA, the UK’s NCA, Portugal’s GNR, France’s OFAST and Europol.
