Walter Finch
A NAZI-themed stag party on the Costa del Sol was one of the last moments of freedom for a notorious drug-trafficking football hooligan firm.
The boss of the Suburbios firm, Daniel MF – also known as El Ratilla – and his crew of thugs shocked locals by parading bright red T-shirts emblazoned with large swastikas through the streets of Malaga earlier this month.
The group were reported to have hit the booze hard, making Nazi salutes and singing fascist songs in the Andalucian sunshine as they celebrated the imminent nuptials of their leader.
El Ratilla was arrested alongside more than a dozen members of his gang a little after his wedding in Madrid on September 20.
El Ratilla had married in the San Esteban Protomártir church in Fuenlabrada, south of Madrid.
Guests set off flares outside the church as the couple emerged, before moving on to a reception at a nearby finca. Some later uploaded photos with Hitler emojis covering their faces.
Little did they know, plain clothes police had been watching the whole time.
Police decided to swoop two days later, arresting El Ratilla alongside 12 of his associates just as he was preparing to depart for his honeymoon – fearing he might abscond if they let him leave.
The raids uncovered a shocking trove of Nazi propaganda, including T-shirts with portraits of the German dictator, the Suburbios name and the phrase ‘Sons of Hitler’ – along with fascist pamphlets and literature.
Searches also turned up five kilos of cocaine, more than €100,000 in cash and a series of weapons including nunchucks.
Ratilla was later remanded in Soto del Real prison on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering
Police said the group financed itself through vuelcos – violent robberies of rival drug traffickers – and laundered profits through a string of businesses tied to Ratilla and relatives, including a bar on Calle Pintor Rosales in Madrid, a massage parlour on Calle Princesa, and a T-shirt shop called Imperio in Fuenlabrada.
In one search, officers raided his commercial unit on Calle Galicia in Fuenlabrada – a former butcher’s stall turned T-shirt shop – removing bags of evidence before parading the handcuffed leader into a waiting car.
The Suburbios firm originated as a splinter of Atletico Madrid’s Frente Atletico but was expelled in 2014 when even hardened ultras disowned them.
At the time, a banner unfurled at the Vicente Calderon stadium read: Antinarconazis (anti-drug-nazis).
Since then, the gang has carved out a reputation for violence and extremism.
El Ratilla has multiple Nazi tattoos, including a swastika on his chest, a Hitler portrait along his side, a Hitler speech inked on his torso, and the SS Totenkopf skull on his hand.
He has been photographed at ceremonies honouring the Division Azul, Spanish volunteers who fought for Hitler’s army, and at tributes to Croatian fascist leader Ante Paveli?.
Members of Suburbios have also taken part in homophobic marches in Madrid’s Chueca district, chanting ‘fuera maricas de nuestros barrios’ (“gays out of our neighbourhoods”), and demonstrated outside migrant centres demanding deportations.
Ratilla himself has a record of previous violence. In 2021 he was photographed leading the firm at the Chueca march.
In 2022 he attempted to attack a journalist, chasing him in the street while shouting threats such as “I know where you live,” according to El Mundo.
He previously spent time in prison a decade ago, and his followers have held events and collections in support, sometimes displaying banners reading ‘Ratilla libertad’ (free Ratilla).
Among those who attended his wedding was Ricardo Guerra, the Atletico ultra convicted of killing Real Sociedad fan Aitor Zabaleta in 1998, as well as his right-hand man J Piquenque, infamous for leading a mob that stormed Atletico’s training ground in 2005 to confront players.
The gang’s rise was linked to El Niño Skin, another far-right ultra who once seized control of Real Madrid’s Ultras Sur before moving into drug trafficking and violent robberies.
Ratilla and Niño Skin were once allies but later fell out, reportedly clashing physically.
The authorities had been investigating the Suburbios firm for months before the Malaga stag and Madrid wedding.
The arrests brought down what police describe as a violent supremacist cell mixing hooliganism, racism and narco crime.
Instead of flying out of Barajas airport for a five-star resort, Ratilla was driven under guard to Soto del Real prison, where he now awaits trial.
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