In a straight line between Ceuta and Algeciras or La Línea de la Concepción there are about 30 kilometers and, by ferry, the journey does not take more than an hour and a bit. But the humanitarian crisis following the massive entry of July 30 and 31 has turned these journeys into a lucrative business for mafias, who take advantage of the desperation of migrants living precariously in Ceuta and charge them up to 9,000 euros per person to get on a raft or inflatable boat. Although the route has lost the importance it had in the 90s due to police pressure and Moroccan control, the latest data from the Ministry of the Interior indicate a 16% increase in irregular maritime entries to the Peninsula, while departures to the Canary Islands are falling by 60%, awaiting what will happen from the autumn when the sea state improves.

Captain Swing has translated into Spanish the 15 years of work of journalist Toby Muse in Colombia reporting on drug trafficking. In Kilo: The Secret World of the Cocaine Cartels, this London-born reporter tries to recover – with the help of translator Victoria Pradilla – the English journalism of American authors from the 70s, such as Joan Didion, Michael Herr or Tom Wolfe.

The Costa del Sol, with its epicenter located in the city of Marbella, is the southern gateway for drug entry into Europe and a true hub where mafias from all over the world converge, to the point that police forces acknowledge their inferiority compared to organizations that move hundreds of millions and have practically no limits. L'ARA wanted to get a close look at the impact of the drug business on the Andalusian coast with two major reports, one focused on Marbella and another, to be published tomorrow, on Barbate. Marbella has been synonymous with luxury and glamour, but also corruption, for many decades. Barbate, on the other hand, represents the other side of the coin, that of old fishing villages where poverty has driven many young people towards drug trafficking, who are nothing more than pawns of international cartels.

A Glock 19, a semi-automatic pistol usually carried by police forces; a Beretta 92, a very similar handgun; and a Kalashnikov, the legendary Soviet assault rifle. In addition to ammunition, balaclavas and silencers. It was Sunday, July 27, and two officers of the Guardia Urbana saw a car driving erratically. They tried to stop it, and the car tried to flee. The chase descended Vallcarca Avenue in Barcelona and ended on República Argentina Street, when the officers managed to stop the car. In the trunk, they found the arsenal. It was driven by a man of Turkish origin who was eventually arrested, but after a few days he was back on the streets, accused of a weapons offense.