The First Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas will try on November 20 in Gran Canaria six defendants accused of introducing "significant quantities" of drugs, specifically hashish and cocaine, into Lanzarote via inflatable boats.
This case will be heard for the second time after it was postponed in May of this year due to the lack of agreement between the Prosecutor's Office and the defense teams.
The investigation dates back to September 2023 and extends to March 2024. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office's filing, the defendants A.L.E., E.F.D., and A.T.F.O. allegedly went to the Cantería beach, in the town of Órzola (Haría), at 2:00 AM on January 9, 2024, and collected different narcotic substances in two cars, a Chevrolet and a Citroen Berlingo.
After that, they allegedly used the two cars to transport the merchandise to a garage located on José Alonso street, situated between the Arrecife neighborhoods of Valterra and Los Alonso.
The Prosecutor's Office states that this garage, located in the same building as the residence of one of the defendants, was the final storage place for the drugs, from where they allegedly distributed and sold them
A local fisherman among those accused
According to information obtained by La Voz at the time, one of the accused is an expert fisherman from the area and very knowledgeable about the sea, who allegedly used his boats to go to offshore meeting points to collect the substances that he would later bring to the coast.
Among the reasons for suspicion by the agents, the police highlighted **the high standard of living they maintained** despite many of them not having paid employment
Searches in Arrecife, Teguise, and Tinajo
As part of this investigation, up to three rounds of searches were carried out. Firstly, the police searched the house and storage room of the property on Jose Alonso street, in Arrecife, the two vehicles allegedly used to transport the drugs from Órzola to the capital of Lanzarote, as well as another property in El Cuchillo (Tinajo), and a final one on Rafael Alberti street (Tahíche).
In these operations, 256 kilograms of cannabis resin and one kilogram of cocaine were intercepted. In total, the substances have a value of **491,363.99 euros for the hashish** and **113,652 euros for the cocaine**. Additionally, the agents also found 63,258 euros in cash, which according to the Prosecutor's Office, comes from the illicit sale of drugsIn addition, in the garage of the Arrecife homes, they searched the interior of a **Renault Kangoo**, where they found 55.7 kilograms of cannabis, valued at 107,942 euros. This discovery led to new searches.
Three rounds of inspections
The Court authorized a second round of inspections. On this occasion, the police searched the home of the accused A.F.B.D., located on Calderón de la Barca street (Tahíche), where they seized 69.18 grams of cocaine and 25.7 grams of hashish. In total, the drugs amounted to nearly 7,000 euros. Furthermore, they searched a home on El Salvador street (Arrecife), the residence of J.C.B.R., where they found 78.66 grams of hashish, valued at 528 euros.
The third batch of searches authorized by the Court allowed entry into another property on Jose Alonso street, owned by the father of the accused A.L.E. In this house, they located **hashish, heroin, and cocaine** worth 14,600 euros, as well as **10,210 euros in cash** and **a luxury Breitling 1.884 watch**In this operation, a semi-rigid boat of the zodiac type, a Chevrolet brand vehicle, a Renault Kangoo, a Toyota Land Cruiser, all owned by A.L.E., as well as a Citroen Berlingo and a Toyota Land Cruiser, owned by E.F.D., were also seized
Penalties of up to eight years and fines of 100,000 euros
The Prosecutor's Office accuses A.L.E., E.F.D., and A.T.F.O. of being the main perpetrators of crimes against public health in the form of substances that cause serious harm to health. For them, it requests eight years in prison, special disqualification from exercising the right to passive suffrage, and a fine of 100,000 euros.
Meanwhile, he attributes to the other three defendants A.F.B.D., J.C.B.R., and B.E. the co-authorship of a crime against public health.For B.E., he requests **four years and five months in prison**, special disqualification from exercising the right to passive suffrage for the duration of the sentence, and a fine of 20,000 eurosIn the case of A.F.B.D., he requests a sentence of four years in prison, special disqualification from exercising the right to passive suffrage for the duration of the sentence, and a fine of 9,000 euros.Finally, for J.C.B.R., the only defendant in the category of substances that do not cause serious harm to health, two years in prison are requested, special disqualification from exercising passive suffrage during the sentence, and a fine of 700 euros.