A SHOCKING shootout in Mijas at the weekend has laid bare a terrifying new reality on the Costa del Sol – one where drug gangs looking for quick profit are turning residential streets into battlegrounds.
The violent clash on Saturday afternoon, which saw a high-speed chase end in gunfire and an overturned vehicle, is just the latest symptom of a phenomenon police are calling the narcos’ ‘Plan B’.
Investigators warn that organised crime groups are increasingly moving away from traditional smuggling routes and resorting to vuelcos – the theft of drug shipments from rival gangs.
READ MORE: Drug crackdown on the Costa del Sol: Police raids shut down narco flats in popular expat town
The tactic offers immediate profits but has shattered the criminal underworld’s old codes of conduct, sparking a spiral of retaliatory violence that threatens to spill over into the public domain.
Saturday’s incident in Mijas offered a glimpse of this ‘wild west’ volatility.
Five patrols of the Policia Local rushed to the scene following reports of a crash, only to find themselves in the middle of a ‘violent episode’ involving a gun threat and an attempted escape.
One man was shot and hospitalised, while officers seized a handgun and 75 kilos of hash from the wreckage.
While the two suspects now face charges including attempted homicide, police unions warn this is not an isolated case.
Security forces describe a new breed of younger, more reckless criminal who wants ‘satisfaction and money immediately’.
This ‘get rich quick’ mentality has led to a surge in kidnappings, torture and ‘warnings’ – often in the form of shootings in the legs – as gangs fight to protect their stash.
The collateral damage is becoming increasingly visible.
In November, innocent drivers on the Malaga-Marbella highway were forced off the road by a Mercedes speeding through traffic during a chase that left a passenger with a bullet wound in his leg.
In another recent case in Benalmadena, a victim was found beaten and bound at a stash house after a rival gang stole nearly two tonnes of hash.
Police unions including the Sindicato Reformista de Policias (SRP) and the Asociacion Unificada de Guardias Civiles (AUGC) claim their members are being left ‘outgunned’ in this escalating war.
They warn that while criminals are arming themselves with ‘war-grade’ weapons, including Kalashnikovs sourced from international black markets, officers often arrive at crime scenes with little more than a pistol and a vest.
The AUGC has highlighted a critical deficit in manpower, pointing to 450 unfilled vacancies in the Malaga province alone – a shortage of 17% of the workforce.
They note that crime in the province, and specifically in Mijas, has risen by over 20% between 2019 and 2024.
Despite the government’s insistence that it is investing heavily in security, with Government Delegate Pedro Fernandez citing €166 million in funding for special anti-drug plans, officers on the ground feel vulnerable.
As one union representative put it, the current resources are ‘obsolete’ against a narco-insurgency that no longer respects any rules.
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