A pirate taxi, a UK citizen wanted on charges back home, and speeding motorists have all been collared around Alicante-Elche airport in just one day, as the Elche local police ramped up their operations against law-breakers in a special set of checks.
The latest sweep by Elche officers flushed out a pirate cab, with licensed taxi drivers long complaining over unlicensed operators picking up and dropping off passengers at Alicante-Elche. They have consistently called for more checks on the clandestine operators and better security checks to keep them out, and even hired a private detective last summer to produce a report on the way the pirates operated, which included some touting for trade in the actual terminal building.
Earlier this year, Tomás Jorge of the local taxi association said that pirate vans carrying up to nine people were on the increase and costing them valuable trade, and that extra restrictions on access to unauthorised carriers had not had the desired effect.
The police sweep also found an unnamed British man at the airport who was fleeing justice from the UK authorities, though further details of the nature of the charges was not declared. Speeding drivers brought rich-pickings to the police with radar photographs bringing 93 motorists that were clocked breaking the limit during their special checks.
Also in trouble were three people that were driving their cars illegally as their ITV certificates had expired; a man who faces at least six points docked on his license for driving under the influence of drugs; and three people driving on licenses that are not allowed in Spain.
