The Supreme Court (TS) has confirmed the sentence of seven and a half years, in one case, and three and a half in the other, to two people considered responsible for introducing several shipments of cocaine from the peninsula to Lanzarote, one of them of about 5,000 kilos.
They have also been sentenced to pay a fine of one million euros, to one of them, and 6,000 euros to the other.
In this way, the ruling issued in its day by the Provincial Court of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which was later ratified by the Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) and now by the TS, becomes final.
As a result of the investigations carried out in early 2023 by the national police of Arrecife, in Lanzarote, a group was known to be engaged in the introduction and distribution of narcotic substances on the island, mainly cocaine, and the main person in charge was identified.
The drug entered both by sea and air by means of mules and, from then on, the distribution fell to the second defendant, a person of the utmost confidence of the principal.
In this way, the transfer of a shipment of cocaine to the island was organized on April 12 at 5:00 p.m. and for this purpose a third defendant was used who arrived on that date at the port of Arrecife on a ship that came from Cadiz, where the other two were waiting for him.
Five packages of cocaine hidden in the bumper
After leaving the ship in a vehicle, it was discovered that inside it, and more specifically in the bumper, it was carrying five packages with a total of almost 5,000 kilos of cocaine with a purity of 80% that would have reached a value of 531,000 euros in the market.
From here, an order was issued to enter and search two homes in Lanzarote in which more shipments of cocaine, utensils to prepare for sale, 5,000 euros and unlicensed firearms for possession and use or a watch worth 18,000 euros were found.
Records in Alcorcón
Small amounts of cannabis and methamphetamine with a value of 50 euros on the black market and a weapons license issued in the Dominican Republic were also seized in the home of the main defendant in the Madrid town of Alcorcón.
The investigation began with the statements of an informant who identified the names of the traffickers and vehicles they used, so the intervention of communications and locator of cars and mobile phones was authorized.
In their appeal, they argue that this informant never testified at the hearing despite having been requested by the defense, that the weapons were unusable, that there was another person who was actually acting as responsible for the operations and who resided in the Alcorcón apartment but was not identified.
They argued before the TS that their convictions are based on indications and that it was not proven that they had any relation with the drug seized, and that nobody saw that they had it or that it was delivered to them.
In fact, they indicate that when the ship arrived they were 20 meters from where the person who was transporting it was arrested.