The Audiencia Nacional has agreed to maintain the seizure of two vehicles and a boat from two detainees linked to a network from which 3.6 tons of cocaine were seized in two landings in Arrieta in Lanzarote and in the South of Tenerife.
A car valued at 29,000 euros, two vans for 50,000 and 45,000, and a zodiac whose price can reach 300,000 euros were also seized from them.
The defendants requested that the ownership of the seized assets be returned to them, alleging that there is no causal link between them and the acts of which they are accused, and that the measure is disproportionate.
The Audiencia Nacional maintains its suspicions that this is a criminal structure, specialized in the maritime field, using boats to introduce large quantities of drugs into Spain, which has allegedly been operating since the end of 2024.
During this period, a stranded boat without occupants was intercepted in the town of Arrieta, in Lanzarote, and another semi-rigid boat in the South of Tenerife, after which the entry and search of the homes of the two appellants were carried out.
In one of these, the two vehicles and the boat that would supposedly be used to carry out their criminal activity were found; a suspicion reinforced by the lack of labor justification to prove legitimate financial income for their acquisition.
Therefore, the Audiencia Nacional sees indications that the vehicles would have been acquired through criminal activity, which is why they have been seized and their provisional use is permitted to the agents.
The Audiencia Nacional recalls that in the case of these types of crimes, the law authorizes the seizure of assets, means, instruments, and profits from the very moment investigations begin.
In the case of the cars, they are “especially suitable for use in surveillance and transportation by security forces and bodies, given their scarcity of resources compared to those usually available to these criminal organizations”.
The ruling adds that “the seizure of these assets, whose value is much lower than the enormous illicit profits obtained from drug trafficking imputed to this investigated person, cannot therefore be considered disproportionate.”
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