Double murder at Águilas estate during transfer of 80 kilos of hashish
Giuliano Velo, a suspected Italian mafioso aged 67 with multiple identities, was shot dead on 7 October in El Garrobillo. The Guardia Civil found up to a dozen 9mm cartridge cases next to his body.
Fatal shooting at a Levante estate during a drugs transfer
An exchange of 80 kilos of hashish ended in double murder on 7 October 2025 at an isolated estate in the Casa Blanca area, in the Águilas hamlet of El Garrobillo. This is according to Ideal, which has had access to the technical scene inspection report prepared by the Armed Institute following the discovery of the bodies.
Guardia Civil investigators who arrived at the estate that afternoon found up to a dozen 9-millimetre pistol cartridge cases on the porch and along the dirt access road, scattered around the body of Giuliano Velo. Subsequent analysis confirmed the calibre but could not determine whether the projectiles came from a single weapon or from several.
The man with a thousand names
Velo, a suspected Italian mafioso aged 67, had been known for more than three decades by Spain's State Security Forces and Corps. He had operated in France under the name Rodolphe Raguccia and in Italy as Antonio Quaranta. Based in the Levante region of Spain, he had recently regained provisional liberty after being investigated as a suspected leader of an organisation dedicated to manufacturing and launching rubber dinghies—the so-called 'gomas'—for the transport of large shipments of hashish.
The body bore several bullet wounds: one impact in the left arm and another in the left thigh. The latter projectile passed through the leg, exited through the buttock and caused his death. The blood residue found at the scene indicated to the officers that another body had been dragged from inside the plot to a vehicle parked on the entrance road.
The second body appears in Ramonete
Shortly after the discovery in El Garrobillo, a call alerted the security forces: approximately 12 kilometres away, outside a bar in the Lorca hamlet of Ramonete, another body had been found hidden in the boot of a car. It was Mohamed E., a Moroccan national with alleged links to drug trafficking, with several gunshot wounds to the back. The officers were quick to link both discoveries and launched what became known as 'Operation Mango 25'.
The sketch prepared by the Guardia Civil suggests that the Casa Blanca estate was the scene of a crossfire that claimed the lives of the two suspected traffickers.
The reconstruction of events according to the accused
The account that emerges from the statements of some of the accused places the trigger for the shooting in the brief absence of Velo's lieutenant. According to that version, Lorenzo R.A.—a Cuban considered to be the Italian's most trusted man—left the scene to look for a screwdriver. At that moment, Mohamed E. drew a pistol and initiated the exchange of gunfire in which both Velo and he were seriously wounded.
Mustapha B., another of those present, claims to have fled the scene running when the shooting broke out. Manuel G., who apparently lived with Velo at the estate, recounts that he returned to the lodge and that the Italian, before dying, ordered him to make Mohamed's body disappear. According to that version, Manuel placed the corpse in the boot of the vehicle that was subsequently located in Ramonete.
Three detained, two in provisional custody
The investigation resulted, months later, in the arrest of the main suspects. Lorenzo R.A. and Manuel G. are currently in provisional custody. Mustapha B. was also arrested as part of the operation deployed by the Guardia Civil.
Velo's death brings to an end a criminal trajectory that had survived decades of police pursuit and successive conflicts between criminal organisations. His establishment in the Levante region of Spain, his use of multiple identities and his role as a suspected organiser of smuggling routes had made him a known target for the security forces. A drugs transfer that went wrong was what ended, according to the investigation, that long trajectory.
Source: Ideal