mirror.co.uk TUESDAY 30.07.2019 DAILY MIRROR^13
DM1ST“This is what you come here for. It’s just
a load of harmless fun at the end of the
day and no one gets hurt.”
On the eastern end of Calle Gerona,
the strip of bars where most of the Brits
congregate for boozing session at night,
the scene can take a darker turn.
Prostitutes ply their trade openly on
the street and drug pushers have no
qualms about dealing in broad daylight
in front of family restaurants.
We were continually offered sex by
Eastern Europeans, many offering to
take us to back alley for as little as €60.
The locals seem to take these murky
drug deals in their stride and the
Spanish police appear to ignore them.
One resident, who did not want to benamed, believes the reason is because
it does not effect the Spanish.
He said: “All the Brits congregate
down here while all the Spanish tourists
mainly keep to the old town so it’s
always seemed to have been a case of
as long as it does not hit the Spanishfamilies, then the Brits can take care of
themselves. That is nothing new, we
had to complain hard for them to do
something about the pickpockets.”
A growing threat to tourists in recent
months have been pickpockets who
target Brits in a systematic manner.The thieves lurk in nightclubs and
alleyways and operate in pairs, waiting
for drunk holidaymakers to pounce on.
Last week, police launched a
crackdown on the crooks after a spate
of robberies, leading to four arrests.
But it has done little to quell the
crime. When we visited this week,
pickpockets still slipped among punters
in packed clubs looking for victims.
Pat Thomas, 65, who has lived here
for 15 years, said: “They are a menace.
They flood in for the holiday season
and no one is safe. The police only
acted because there were so many
complaints but they only arrested four.”
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@MirrorAspyesterday reveals Portuguese
prosecutors have shelved their
probe into the Brit pair’s alleged
paymasters.
Prosecutors said: “Despite all
inquiries carried out to identify
the people believed to have
recruited them, it has not been
possible to discover these
individuals’ full identities.
“The suspects acted together
with the purpose of receiving
and carrying the cocaine and the
objective of handing it over to a
third party for money.”
They also crushed the Clarkes’
hopes of release on bail before
their trial by describing the
evidence against them as
“extremely strong”.
State prosecutors have not
said if the couple, who have
served prison sentences in
Norway after being caught
smuggling cannabis, had
co-operated with authorities.
Under Portuguese law the
crime they have been charged
with carries a prison sentence of
up to 12 years.Cruise OAPs
facing trial
for cocaine
smuggling
EXCLUSIVE BY GERARD COUZENS
A BRITISH couple arrested on a
cruise liner with £1million of
cocaine have been charged with
drug smuggling – and face being
held behind bars until their trial.
Prosecutors admitted they
have been unable to identify the
drug lords who “recruited”
Roger, 72, and Sue Clarke, 71.
Ex-lorry driver Roger and
former secretary Sue were held
in Lisbon on December 4 last
year after their UK-bound ship
docked from the Bahamas.
Portuguese police acting on a
tip-off from British officers
boarded the MC Marco Polo
during the second-to-last stop of
the couple’s 33-day £3,000-a-
head transatlantic cruise.
Nearly 20lbs of the class-A
drug were allegedly found
hidden inside four suitcases in
their cabin. Roger, of St Mary’s
Cray near Bromley, Kent, is said
to have bragged on board of
buying it for a bargain on the
Caribbean island of St Lucia. An
indictment made publicCHARGED Roger and Sue ClarkeCLUB
18-
OUR YOUNG ENJOYING WILD HOLS
Older Brits in Benidorm
pack out sex shows and
binge on drugs & booze
LAUGHTER Man
rips his shirt offCHEEKY Sordid
night at sex clubI’M SOZZLED
Woman tries to
pick up itemTourist held after bottle attack
A BRITISH tourist could face a charge of
attempted murder after attacking a
doorman with a broken bottle on the
notorious Magaluf strip in Majorca.
Max Barnes, 19, was arrested after the
alleged attack on Sunday opposite aCivil Guard post in the notorious Punta
Ballena street. He was treated in
hospital for a cut hand before his arrest.
Yesterday, The Mirror revealed how
the popular resort on the Spanish island
was plagued with violence.