The Second Section of the Provincial Court will try from April 23 to 27 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ten defendants accused of belonging to a drug trafficking network that introduced 49 kilos of cocaine in Lanzarote, including an agent of the Civil Guard. The Prosecutor's Office requests for the accused sentences ranging from 6 to 23 years in prison and close to 11 million euros in fines for drug trafficking crimes committed by a criminal organization, possession of weapons, falsification of an official document, money laundering and disclosure of secrets
The one for whom 23 years in prison are requested is Alexander Von Hoger, who the Public Prosecutor also considers to be the "liaison" between this and another organization also dedicated to drug trafficking that operated in Gran Canaria. In fact, seven other people accused of belonging to this second network will be in the dock.
Alexander Von Hoger is identified as "an important organizer of drug trafficking in the Canary Islands, of any kind and with various organizations." According to the Prosecutor's Office, Alexander distributed "the drug" with another of the accused, Massimiliano Giusepe Anfuso, alias Máximo. "He looks for suppliers and organizes the entry of shipments and, with Máximo, carries out the activities of smurfing, helped by his girlfriend, the accused Froydis Lindhjem, who in turn does surveillance work at Alexander's appointments, and with the collaboration of Cesáreo Suárez", another of the accused, of whom it is indicated that he was a "bank employee" and that he "collected 500 and 200 euro bills" to "exchange these bills for others of 20 euros that Alexander gave him".
The cocaine arrived on the island aboard a cruise ship from Brazil
However, the Prosecutor's Office points out that this network that operated in Lanzarote was led by Zeljko Rakowski, alias 'El Profesor', who "traveled in dates close to April 2016, in order to negotiate, at source, the shipment of cocaine." On that trip, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, he was accompanied by two other defendants, Nikola Fatic and Milos Jovanovic, who would have delivered the drug "to a member of the crew of the MSC Splendida", a cruise ship on which the cocaine arrived on the island.
Once the journey was made, Nikola Fatic and Milos Jovanovic "were in charge of the custody of the cocaine in several hotel establishments in Lanzarote", staying in "up to three" with "the address of the Professor, who had "the help of the accused Máximo and Dorian, until it was transferred to Las Palmas by Rayco and Carlos Armiche".
They had access to "internal information" from shipping companies
The Prosecutor's Office considers that Massimiliano Giuseppe Anfuso, alias Máximo, acted, like Alexander Von Heger, as "public relations of the organization with contacts at a national and international level" and that he was "responsible for the distribution of the drug and money laundering through smurfing (procuring the obtaining of 500 and 200 euro bills for greater ease of transferring large amounts of money).
This defendant, as stated in the indictment, is constituted "as an essential person in the logistics for the introduction of the drug by sea." And it is that, in a search that was carried out at his home in San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Gran Canaria) "extensive information was seized on six merchant ships of the MSC and MAERSK shipping companies).
In this sense, it is also pointed out that in the Professor's home, in Arinaga, "high-value information" was also seized, finding a planning of the MSC shipping company's ships, which could only be provided from the shipping company's staff and shows that the organization had access to internal information from the shipping company, referring to its routes from Brazil, with knowledge of the containers and their numbering, date of departure of the container, the ship that transported it and date of arrival at the port of destination". With this, the Public Prosecutor's Office adds, "the logistics to hide the drug are articulated".
Likewise, Massimiliano Guiseppe is considered "responsible for the sale in Lanzarote of a kilo of cocaine from the seized shipment, for which the amount of 39,460 euros was charged, without it being possible to identify the buyer(s)".
The civil guard used "police data" to give "information and security"
As for the other two defendants, Carlos Armiche and Rayco Álamo, it is pointed out that they were "in charge of transporting the cocaine from Lanzarote to Las Palmas." Rayco Álamo, as indicated in the indictment, "was an agent of the Civil Guard" and as such "appears as the person in charge of providing security and information using the police data to which he has access".
According to the Prosecutor's Office, he also had "under his orders" a "called Joaquín, whose identity has not been recognized" and, together with Máximo, he was also in charge of "smurfing tasks." Regarding the police data, it is indicated that he provided "internal information" to which he had "access in his capacity as Civil Guard to Carlos Armiche and the aforementioned Joaquín".
The cocaine was found in a hotel in Puerto del Carmen
Finally, on April 28, 2016, the 49 kilos of cocaine were seized in an aparthotel of the Lanzarote Pal Tourist Complex in Puerto del Carmen. The drug, with an average richness of 86.31%, would have reached "an approximate value in the market of 1,716,701 euros." "The indicated drug was the property of the organization, of all these defendants, who were going to be in charge, with total disregard for the health of the people, to proceed with its distribution and sale on the island of Gran Canaria, appropriating the huge profits that this activity brings," Fiscalóa points out.
That same day, according to the indictment, another of the accused of belonging to this network, Dorian Gray, was also arrested, who at the time of his arrest "had in his possession a passport of the Republic of Slovenia in the name of Martín Magister that had been manipulated", that is, it was false.
20 kilos of hashish, a pistol and money were also seized
In the operation, which was carried out by the National Police under the name of 'Escipión', 20 kilograms of hashish, a modified pistol and ammunition, substance for the adulteration and manufacture of the drug and 39,460 euros in cash were also seized in various searches, as reported then by the police force.
At the time, the National Police reported that there were 11 detainees and that the alleged leader of this organization, whom everyone knew as 'El profesor', had served in the Yugoslav national army and was a fugitive from German justice, pending serving a sentence of 14 years.
