The Appeals Chamber of the National Court (AN) has ratified the sentence of ten years in prison and a fine of 125 million euros for each of the fifteen crew members of a vessel that in 2024 was transferred to the port of Las Palmas de Canaria with 3.5 tons of cocaine.
Before the Appeals Chamber, the defendants alleged lack of jurisdiction of the Spanish authorities and that therefore the detention had been illegal, nullity of the boarding and of the entry and search due to the non-existence of authorization from the Panamanian authorities, country to which they said the ship belonged.
In case of not being acquitted, they requested a reduction of the sentences and that they be replaced by expulsion, taking into account the mitigating circumstance of undue delays and that the captain had been coerced to participate in the operation through an attack at the school where his wife worked.
The National Court has once again upheld the authorization for entry and search and for the intervention of the ship, based on international laws, in which the need for all countries to participate in the fight against drug trafficking is maintained.
The argument of undue delays is also rejected but the door is opened for, when the execution of the sentences is carried out, the accused to be expelled or serve their sentences in their countries of origin, a decision that for now is considered “premature”.
The US anti-drug agency DEA detected a ship named "Atalaya" with a Panamanian flag which, in November 2024, was sailing towards Spain with between 3 and 4 tons of cocaine, so it notified the Spanish authorities when it was near the Canary Islands.
After requesting permission from Panama to board it, it was reported that at that time the vessel no longer had a Panamanian flag despite the authorities of this country claiming that the crew and vessel be placed at their disposal.
On November 12, its boarding was carried out by the police, who found 100 bales joined by means of ropes, weights and nets, a system that is usually used to throw them into the sea.
Upon one of the crew members being subjected to a drug test, he tested positive for cocaine, which led to the arrest of the fifteen crew members, considering that all of them were aware of the cargo they were carrying and its illegality, and the vessel was transferred to the port of Las Palmas.
At this point it was confirmed that the total weight amounted to 3.5 tons of cocaine with a purity of 84%, so it would have a value of 124 million if it had been distributed by kilograms and 245 million if it had been done by grams.