The four officers are all either inspectors or chief inspectors specialising in operations against mafia-style organisations. One of the officers arrested heads a section devoted to fighting organised crime on the Costa del Sol and the other three are group leaders. Two of the four are based at the Provincial Police Station in Malaga while the others operate from Marbella and Fuengirola. All four have enjoyed significant professional success in the Udyco-Costa del Sol.

Another two people were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the same investigation: one is a woman who has worked as a French interpreter at Marbella Police Station and the other holds a high-ranking post in a cosmetic surgery clinic in the same area.

The investigation began two years ago when the then Provincial Police Chief, José Gutiérrez Valenzuela, received a written report from a police officer revealing irregularities. This was passed on to the Internal Affairs Unit.

This week detectives have searched Udyco offices in Marbella and Malaga as well as the homes of some of the arrested officers. Computers and police issue firearms have been confiscated.

Sources close to the investigation have explained that the six are suspected of having unlawfully taken goods while searching properties during police raids. It is thought that the suspects could be formally accused of misappropriation, unauthorised disclosure of classified information and invasion of the privacy of the home, although the misappropriation could turn into embezzlement in the case of the four police officers.

The six spent Tuesday and Wednesday night in solitary confinement in police cells waiting to appear before the judge. The police union SUP complained that the officers were being treated “worse than terrorists”.