Dark truth behind Love Island’s hols hotspot plagued by drug supermarkets, ‘mafia-run’ migrant camps & sex trafficking

WITH golden sandy beaches, inviting clear blue seas and roughly 300 days of sunshine every year, it’s no wonder Majorca was the paradise picked by Love Island bosses as the setting for their dating show. But hidden in plain sight, just miles from beloved Brit hotspot Palma, are rampant drug hubs, a chilling forced sex trade where victims are raped “up to 21 hours a day” and crime-ridden migrant campsites where murders have allegedly taken place. Colombian migrant Hairo Cococha claims to have witnessed killings, drug deals and people using in a migrant camp Credit: Ian Whittaker An apparent drug deal taking place in notorious neighbourhood Corea, dubbed ‘Majorca’s most dangerous part’ Credit: Ian Whittaker It’s a grim picture far divorced from the postcard-perfect image of Majorca that’s loved by the 3.5million Brits who visit each year – including the legions of Love Island fans lured to the island in the hope of their own holiday romances. Sun reporter Jeylin Mehmet, 23, who visited the island to investigate crime in the region, says: “Love Island portrays Majorca as a beautiful, idyllic paradise. On TV, you can see them out on dates in gorgeous, scenic locations that set the romantic ambience. “But what lies beneath and what isn’t shown on TV is this world, where a lot of trafficking is going on, whether that’s sex, people or drugs. It’s rife. “Obviously tourists are unaware but they need to know there is this dangerous underbelly that is not shown on TV and they could very easily find themselves at risk.” Since May, more than 300 people have been arrested in Playa de Palma as part of Operation Summer for a raft of offences including theft, vehicle burglary, fraud, assault, drug trafficking and sexual assault. This included 90 people “caught in the act” trying to pickpocket tourists – some while drunkenly leaving bars and clubs, other times opportunist thefts from distracted visitors or those who left the baggage in hotel lobbies. Police also recently raided shanty town Son Banya, known as “the drugs supermarket of Majorca” due to everything from heroin to fentanyl and cocaine being on offer, which is just four miles from party city Palma. Run by ‘Spanish gypsies’ known as the La Paca clan, they have raked in tens of millions of euros over the decades as the main suppliers on the island before flogging it to gangs who use kids on bikes for “JustEat-style deliveries”. Thomas, not his real name, a Brit who has lived in Majorca for around 50 years, tells us: “It’s well known as the ‘drugs supermarket of Majorca’, you get everything there – heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, anything you want. “I believe a gram of coke is sold for €60, but it’s cut with so much s*** it’s not worth the money to sniff, it’s a bloody fool’s game. Hashish is very popular too. “Drugs are very prolific everywhere, smaller gangs buy drugs wholesale from the gypsies and then deliver. It’s as easy as ordering JustEats these days.” The La Paca clan was famously headed up by fierce matriarch Francisca Cortes Picazo, now 77, who was last detained in 2022 after being recorded discussing “kilos of cocaine” – a violation of her partial prison release. In 2001, police recovered more than €18m of her gang’s laundered assets – the largest sum retrieved by police from a drug trafficker – including 29 properties worth €7m, 50 luxury cars, €750,000 in various banks and 11 race horses. Seven years later, police found €4.3m in cash inside five boxes, hidden in a hole under a concrete block on her property, a further €385,000 at one of her properties and jewellery weighing seven kilos. Like Picazo, who has the nickname La Paca, her son Francisco Fernández Cortés has been jailed multiple times for everything from trafficking to firearm and traffic offences. Previously, he was jailed for attempted murder after shooting at a barman following a row over his refusal to pay his drinks bill. Francisca Cortés Picazo once headed Spanish gypsy crime gang La Paca Credit: Shutterstock Part of Francisca Cortés Picazo’s haul – more than £22m has been seized from her Credit: IB3 Police seized more than €18m of her assets in 2001 alone – including 29 properties Credit: IB3 La Paca operate from shanty town Son Banya, known as the ‘drugs supermarket of Majorca’ Credit: Alamy Before firing a round at him, which missed and got lodged in a metal door, he told his victim to beg for his life, saying: “Humble yourself and say you’re a c**k-sucker.” Last month he was arrested for allegedly threatening multiple people at a hospital with a gun and firing several shots in the air. Just 1.5miles away from Palma is Corea, in Camp Redo, dubbed “the most dangerous part of Majorca.” There is also brazen street dealing including heroin addicts injecting themselves in plain sight on the street and a disturbing forced sex trade. Seconds after our reporter Jeylin arrived in the area, a mum, holding her baby in her arms, asked her “cocaine?” while tapping her nose. Moments later, three intimidating men emerged from behind the group of women and approached their vehicle. She says: “The men got up off the wall and came up to us, it was like ‘We own her, you can’t speak to her’. It looked like part of a massive criminal operation and we quickly drove away. “Some gangs were using kids to peddle drugs to their clients and a massive police operation uncovered a drug den that they bulldozed to stop them from operating inside it. It felt a dangerous place to be.” Jeylin also witnessed shocking scenes at “mafia-run” caravan sites in the district, used by migrants and hard-up Spaniards, just a 10-minute drive from popular hotels. Corea, in Camp Redo, which was labelled the ‘most dangerous’ part of Majorca by a local Credit: Google Maps Sun reporter Jeylin Mehmet visited to dangerous caravan camps and drug dealing hotspots Credit: Ian Whittaker In one, with roughly 400 vehicles, Colombian migrant Hairo Cococha, 53, claimed to have seen people “murder their wives and children, and even kill themselves”. Humanitarian groups claim “sex services are offered at every turn” and some women have been raped up to 21 hours a day after being lured to the island under the false promise of cleaning or carer jobs with “attractive” salaries. Police also uncovered an alleged child prostitution network, which led to 14 arrests of people aged 21 to 65 including four women and three children accused of recruiting girls. It’s alleged the children were sold for sex online through adult dating websites. Among Majorca’s most chilling dark trade is its prostitution industry – which according to humanitarian group Doctors Of The World, sees a rise of up to 50 per cent each summer to cater to tourist demand. The area has now “become a centre of sex tourism”, they claim, with an estimated 8,000 women operating in the Balearics alone, the highest population of them in all of Spain. “The tourism model here is quite dubious – it is based on alcohol, drugs and unbridled pleasures – and prostitution fits perfectly into it,” says Jaume Pereillo, of aid organisation Casal Petit. Claiming the trade is no longer confined to brothels or specific streets, he adds that “sex services are offered at every turn”. With stunning views, like in Palma (above), it’s no wonder Love Island was chosen to be set in Majorca Credit: Getty Love Island is set in a villa near Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, in the eastern Majorca Credit: ITV Spanish government reports estimate 80 per cent of sex workers are human trafficking victims – some are lured on the false pretence of well-paying cleaning or carer jobs. Upon arrival, their passports are seized and they are locked in apartments, where they are forced into sex work due to being told by their captors that they owe them a “debt”. Some are raped up to 21 hours a day, with pimps pocketing vast amounts of the money. Most dare not escape due to threats their loved ones back at home will be killed. One former victim told news site DW: “There is a lot of money involved in this business… If you try to hide even a small amount from them, they beat you, lock you up, rape you – everything you can imagine.” In July last year police freed 150 women trapped in a prostitution ring – most were undocumented immigrants and victims of human trafficking. Convictions for sexual offences in Majorca also rose 25 per cent last year. Concerns around predatory men attacking drunk girls in Magaluf was highlighted in a Channel 4 by reporter Ellie Flynn two years ago. She pretended to be in an intoxicated state and barely able to talk or walk, and watched in horror as one man attempted to kiss her. Another sinisterly told two friends: “She’s completely wasted. Let’s go for it.” Ellie Flynn was approached by numerous creepy men while pretending to be intoxicated Credit: Channel 4 Influencer Vanessa Mariposa claimed her drink was spiked as part of a targeted robbery Credit: Instagram / @vanessa_mariposa This month alone, two Spanish 18-year-olds and a juvenile were arrested in Magaluf for a robbery plot against drunk women, who they befriended, returning to their hotels and robbed them of their bank cards and belongings. One claimed she was sexually assaulted. Ex-pat Thomas says: “They tend to target people who are very p***ed, it takes just one push and they fall over, making it easy for them to be robbed. “It tends to be drunk people wandering onto the beach at 5am or going for a swim that tend to get mugged. They also target people stupid enough to walk around with £50,000 Rolexes on their wrists.” Similarly, last year, Austrian reality TV star Vanessa Mariposa was robbed of her Cartier bracelet after allegedly being spiked at a party, which left her vomiting and unable to walk. “I’m convinced the people who did this had far worse intentions… otherwise they wouldn’t have drugged us or taken steps to stop us from calling for help,” she previously said. Thomas says there are police “raids every week” in Playa de Palma to crack down on Senegalese, Nigerians and immigrants who flog counterfeit football shirts and watches during the day and drugs at night. Having seen some of the riskier areas in the Brit hotspot first-hand, Jeylin was astonished by how little visitors knew about the risks they could face. She says: “There’s definitely a dark underbelly of Majorca and tourists not knowing about it makes it worse. “They could easily stray off into very dangerous areas outside the beautiful city centre and find themselves at great risk.” And while many of the claims sound far-fetched, like a scene from a cartel movie, most Brits do not fall foul of the criminality lurking in the corners of popular Majorca resorts. In fact, Thomas insists the Balaerics are “pretty safe overall”, insisting he’s only once nearly been mugged in his 50-plus years there and says he had more issues while running a pub in Cambridge. “That was one of the most violent places I ever had a pub, way worse than here. Generally Spain and Majorca is safe and the police are very, very good. “If there’s robbery, someone is mugged and hurt badly, they seem to catch them within hours. Thanks to CCTV and knowing where some of the worst offenders live, they seem to be on top of most things.”