The Second Section of the Provincial Court has sentenced the owner of a supermarket in Arrecife, accused of drug trafficking, to three years in prison. The trial was to be held this Wednesday in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, but the defendant acknowledged the facts, reaching an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office, who initially requested eight years in prison. The now convicted person must also face a fine of 2,000 euros.
The Court considers it proven that Francisco Rodríguez Ferrera, owner of the María supermarket, located on Ingeniero Paz Peraza street in Arrecife, was engaged in "the sale and distribution of narcotic substances to third parties in the establishment" in "a room of the premises not dedicated to the public" with "total disregard for individual and collective health".
According to the sentence, on April 28, 2016, agents of the National Police carried out an inspection of the premises, finding "a total of 5.22 grams of cocaine, with an average richness of 10.34% expressed in cocaine base, and 327 grams of cannabis resin (hashish), which was distributed in several pieces, as well as several precision scales and several mobile phones".
The fine is reduced from 33,000 to 2,000 euros
The seized substance would have reached in the illicit market "the value of 79.78 euros with respect to cocaine" and "of 1,984.89 euros with respect to hashish", it is added in the ruling, in which it is pointed out that after the accused has manifested "freely and expressly" his conformity with the Prosecutor's accusation, which contained a "more serious" penalty, a sentence is issued condemning Francisco Rodríguez Ferrera to three years in prison and a fine of 2,000 euros for
a crime against public health in its modality of substances that cause serious damage to health, pointing out that, in case of non-payment of the fine, it will be replaced by "twenty days of arrest". Initially, the Prosecutor's Office had requested eight years in prison for the accused and a fine of 33,034 euros.
It should be remembered that after the arrest of Francisco Rodríguez Ferrera, the National Police reported that three boxes of anabolic steroids, 950 euros in cash, two knives of 25 and 18 centimeters of blade with traces of hashish had also been found in the premises and that part of the drug had been found hidden in boxes of sweets.
