596 EXTRA Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional officers will be brought in to boost security over the summer in the Valencian Community.

‘Operation Verano’ runs between July 1 and August 31, with a total of 7,300 personnel involved across the region.

The government delegate to the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabe, said: ”Summer is a key time for the tourist sector which is why police operations aim to provide effective protection and security so that everybody can have a good and safe time.”

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“We want to increase citizen security in tourist areas to minimise risks associated with common crime and cybercrime and to help victims more quickly and effectively,” she added.

Surveillance and preventive controls will be increased on roads, stations, ports, airports, hotels, beaches and campsites.

Extra resources will also be deployed at large gatherings including major fiestas and music festivals.

The DGT traffic authority and the Interior Ministry will also be running summer campaigns to promote road safety at a time when accident rates increase.

As in previous years, the DGT will have special operations at weekends and long weekends- especially on the traditional summer departure and return dates.

It has also planned road safety initiatives to curb driving with excess alcohol and drugs, as well as targeting motorists who break speed limits.

THE Guardia Civil is leading the search for a British expat that disappeared exactly a fortnight ago on May 30.

An extensive operation has been going on including the use of helicopters, drones with thermal cameras and police sniffer dogs.

Janet Fison left her Jacarilla home in the south of Alicante province at around 7pm.

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Janet- originally from Redhill in Surrey- was last seen wearing a brown floral dress.

Her husband said she had no mobile phone on her or money and identity documents.

She was last sighted walking by the river towards Benejuzar at around 8.40pm.

The Guardia Civil has been in charge of the operation, working closely with the Jacarilla Policia Local.

Jacarilla council also thanked residents for joining in the search earlier in the week.

They’ve made a fresh appeal for anybody with any information to contact the council, the Guardia, or Policia Local.

A GANG selling weapons of war to drug crews around Spain has been brought down by the Guardia Civil.

The military-style guns were supplied to traffickers to help them ‘protect’ marijuana farms and warehouses.

18 people have been arrested including members of the notorious ‘Los Pulleros’ clan based in the Murcia region town of Alguazas.

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The group had members who had licenses to buy guns and who falsely reported thefts of weapons.

Some of the gang had previous arrests to their name related to arms and drug trafficking in addition to attempted murder.

16 searches were conducted in Murcia as well as in Alicante and Cadiz provinces.

The crew was also linked to a Granada-based arms trafficking group which, as previously reported by the Olive Press, was broken up by the Guardia Civil earlier this year.

The two gangs cooperated with each other to meet the demands of narcotic dealers who wanted specific weapons.

Among the items seized during the Murcia operation were assault rifles such as the AK47, police shotguns and state-of-the-art pistols.

897 cartridges of different calibres were also seized – 249 of them considered war cartridges – in addition to a silencer, magazines and a sub-machine gun.

A by-product of the Guardia investigation was the dismantling of five indoor marijuana farms.

They all deployed high-end security cameras to watch over employees and monitor any possible moves by police.

Raids on the farms yielded over €173,000 in cash, 1,733 marijuana plants, and five high-end vehicles.

Not satisfied with gun-running and drug trafficking, the criminal organisation also extorted people who took out loans at massively high interest rates.

Victims were coerced to settle their debts with cash payments or by handing over goods.