Published: | Updated:
Three British teenagers arrested on Spain's Costa del Sol with an arsenal of weapons had planned to steal drugs from a gang in a violent raid, it is understood.
Two of the suspects were aged 17 and the third was 18, according to Spanish news outlet ABC.
Police arrested the group of youths on September 21 after an investigation uncovered five semiautomatic pistols, machetes, baseball bats, clown masks and masks resembling human faces.
It is understood the teenagers were planning a violent attack or a raid to steal drugs from other criminals.
The group, which included two brothers, were known to authorities and had police records involving fights and assaults.
One of the boys' fathers is believed to have a criminal record in the UK linked to organised crime before settling in the area with his family.
Two of the teenagers grew up on the Costa del Sol.
Spanish authorities launched an investigation in July after a car was reported as stolen in Portugal.
Police arrested the group of youths on September 21 after an investigation uncovered five semiautomatic pistols, machetes, baseball bats, clown masks and masks resembling human faces
The vehicle was tracked to the Benabola car park in the luxury marina district of Puerto Banus in Marbella, where it was fitted with cloned Swedish number plates.
Officers spotted weapons and disguises packed into shopping and travel bags inside the car - and placed it under surveillance.
Investigators told ABC that the suspects wore latex gloves while handling the car and kept their heads covered.
The vehicle was believed to have been used to store the drugs.
The teenagers were also seen selling drugs and regularly visiting cannabis clubs.
During the investigation, police raided two houses and found 827 grams of ketamine, 670 grams of a substance described by police as tusi, 52 grams of MDMA and 425 ecstasy tablets.
Officers also seized €21,975, £410 and $100 in cash.
Swedish gangs are suspected to have supplied the weapons, while the sheer number of weapons seized sparked concerns of a planned drug robbery.
It is understood the teenagers were planning a violent attack or a raid to steal drugs from other criminals with the use of the weapons
Weapons, including machetes and baseball bats, were seized from the group of teenagers
A group of alleged drug smugglers unloaded a shipment from a large speed-boat in front of stunned beachgoers on Spain 's Costa del Sol
The 18-year-old has been remanded in custody. The two 17-year-olds have been placed in a juvenile detention centre.
Drug traffickers have long held an advantage over law enforcement along Spain's southern coast.
Gangs are able to evade detection by using drones, radar and thermal cameras. They also use powerful high-speed boats which outpace many police vessels.
Juan Luján, head of the Spanish National Police organised crime unit in the Costa del Sol region, told The Wall Street Journal that authorities could not allow hundreds of smuggling boats to operate openly from ports and bays or unload drugs while families swam nearby.
Yet despite their efforts, he said security forces have effectively lost control over parts of the coastal waters.