Costa del crime

Ever since the collapse of the extradition treaty with the UK in the late 1970s, Spain's southern coastal strip of the Costa Del Sol has been a safe haven for criminals.

The adventures of drug smuggler Howard Marks, the $6 million Security Express raid of 1983, involving Ronnie Knight and Clifford Saxe and the road rage murder by Kenneth Noye, are just some of the dramatic stories in this thrilling compilation.

But, Spain's unique status became a thing of the past when the government agreed to reinstate the treaty allowing them to fast-track extraditions.

These days, drug dealers are forced to make runs over to the tip of Africa in nearby Morocco, some meeting gruesome ends at the hands of rivals, and unscrupulous property barons who hatch dubious deals to provide homes for the rapidly expanding population, much of which is made up of UK ex-pats.

This is the fascinating history of the criminals' favourite playground.