Drug gang may have started Spanish fire as a smokescreen

A WILDFIRE that raged for six days on the Costa del Sol and resulted in the death of a firefighter may have been started by traffickers distracting attention from shipments of drugs from Africa, according to Spanish police.

Police sources close to the investigation said criminal gangs had used the tactic to enable them to move shipments of cannabis and cocaine.

The fire destroyed nearly 25,000 acres of forest in the Sierra Bermeja hills on what is known as the “Costa del Crime” in south-east Spain

The source of the fire was located near the hilltop village of Genagacil, where investigators found the charred remains of two piles of leaves and pine cones that had been lit with a lighter.

They also say flammable liquid was used to accelerate the blaze, which spread quickly through the forest at the end of a hot, dry summer because it was fanned by strong, swirling winds.

The blaze struck towards the end of a deadly season of wildfires across the Mediterranean, with Italy and Turkey particularly badly affected.

It was described by firefighters as the most intense and unpredictable fire they had seen. Carlos Martínez, 44, from Almería, died after he failed to escape down the hillside when he was trapped by the flames as the wind changed direction.

The army helped put out the blaze, with more than 900 emergency workers and 50 aircraft, before rain helped to bring it under control on Tuesday.

On Monday a helicopter crashed into trees after its pilot was unsighted but all 19 people on board survived.

25,000

Number of acres destroyed in an area of Spain that has become known as the ‘Costa del Crime’