Two dead, 36 arrested in anti-drugs operation on Chiclana beach

Storm capsizes launch as crew was unloading hash bales

(www.levante-emv.com)

CHICLANA (Cádiz) -- The first body beached last Sunday, The second turned up on Monday, but the dealers' schedule had planned to unload on Friday, which is when a big storm boiled up in the Straits and most of the province of Cádiz. In a lengthy press release, the Guardia Civil had the bodies as those of Moroccan nationality, who crewed one of four launches trying to drop their merchandise at the Sancti Petri beach in Chiclana. News of the accident had numerous people combing the beach searching for a part of the haul, resulting in the arrest of 36 people, most of whom are now released on bail. The GC did manage to grab a couple of tons of hash and arrest 3 people off the launches. The case is not yet closed.

Prostitution and drugs add €9 billion to Spain's 2013 GDP

(www.eurasianet.org)

MADRID – The National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE) announced last week that Spain’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by €26,193 million in 2013 because new regulations from Brussels order the inclusion of illegal activities. This includes all illegal activity, including the ‘profits’ from drug trafficking (0.50% or €5,246 million, prostitution (0.35% or €) and people trafficking, illegal gambling and contraband (largely of tobacco products, according to the report). It was calculated that this added close to €9bn, yet is only 0.87% of the total, which adds up to €1,049bn. However, the inclusion of illegal activities has less of an impact on the increase than; the largest item is the inclusion of R&D (in Spanish I+D+i), which is up by 1.17% since 2010 (the base year used for calculations) and is now considered an investment expense rather than an intermediate expense as it was until last year. Military armament represents 0.17% of the total. Spain’s 2013 PNG is therefore €1,049bn. (See also Sex and Drugs to add to Europe's murky GDP figures.)