The trial against the alleged members of a violent criminal group that introduced drugs into Lanzarote began this Monday in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, although with the absence of the main defendant. The person identified as the leader of the gang did not appear at the hearing, so he was declared in absentia and his search and capture has been ordered.
However, the trial began with the other 12 defendants, for whom the Prosecutor's Office is asking for sentences of between two and almost 10 years in prison and fines of up to 800,000 euros, depending on the participation of each one in the events. These include not only drug trafficking crimes, but also membership of a criminal group, money laundering, injuries and illegal detention.
Among other things, several are accused of having held another man for hours who they believed had stolen part of a shipment of hashish. “They hooded him, bridled him and, with the intention of undermining his physical integrity, hit him with a hammer on his toes and knees,” the indictment states.
As for the ringleader, the Public Prosecutor's Office was requesting 15 years and three months in prison for him, considering him the perpetrator of all the crimes, although at least for now he cannot be tried, as he is a fugitive from justice.
Premises and homes to hide the drugs
The events occurred about seven years ago, when the UCO Organized Crime Team began investigating this alleged gang, made up of O.C.C., D.S.C., A.W.L., J.D.S., D.L.R., A.R.R., E.R.C., A.A.C.C., L..I.R.R., J.M.G.A., R.G.A., M.C.A., S.C.C. and M.E.C.L., all of them of Spanish nationality.
“The defendants, in agreement with each other and with other people whose identity could not be determined, planned the maritime transport of hashish from North Africa, destined for the island of Lanzarote through the use of a boat arranged for this purpose,” the Prosecutor's Office states.
At the head of it is O.C.C., who operated from Lanzarote and Tenerife and “was in charge of planning operations to acquire the narcotic substance, as well as organizing its transport and final distribution in Lanzarote and being the main recipient of the income obtained from its sale.”
“For this he had the outstanding assistance and direct collaboration of the also defendants D.S.C., A.W.L., J.D.S.D.L.R. and A.R.R., who, following the guidelines of O.C.C., carried out preparation work for the introduction into the island of Lanzarote of 2,500 kilos of hashish, looking for premises or homes to be used as a warehouse for the narcotic substance and vehicles suitable for its transport, as well as taking charge of retail distribution.”
One of them was the one who supposedly warned the leader, on October 21, 2016, that 270 kilos of hashish that they had hidden in Lanzarote had been stolen, pointing to A.G.T. as the possible perpetrator.
It was then that they allegedly illegally detained him in an abandoned house, keeping him deprived of liberty for 5 hours. “He suffered injuries consisting of excoriating wounds on both wrists and nasal hematoma and on the right eyebrow,” the indictment states.
In addition, he adds that they also acquired a car and a truck, in which they created a false bottom, to transport the drugs by boat from Lanzarote to other islands.
Restaurants of a franchise to “launder” the income
The police operation, baptized as Operación Corraliza, broke out on January 14, 2016, when arrests and searches were carried out in several homes in Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, by order of the Investigating Court Number 2 of Arrecife.
In total, the agents seized almost 500 kilos of hashish, which on the illicit market would have reached a price of 791,278 euros, as well as 50 grams of marijuana and 16.3 grams of cocaine.
“As a result of the sale of narcotic substances, the defendant O.C.C. obtained notorious economic benefits, and in order to give a licit appearance to such income, he agreed with his mother, the also defendant M.E.C.L., to create two companies, with both O.C.C. and M.E.C.L., as well as M.C.A. and S.C.C., participating in said money laundering network,” the Prosecutor's Office adds.
For this, he points out that they created a “shell” company and several companies, with which they opened two restaurant businesses of a franchise. In the case of the three women defendants, they are accused of a crime of money laundering as accomplices.
After the police intervention, four of the detainees were sent to provisional prison in January 2016, although they ended up leaving between that same year and 2017. The one who continued with this measure the longest was the ringleader, who was released pending trial in February 2018, and who did not appear at the hearing this Monday.
During the first session of the trial, which is scheduled to continue until next Thursday before the Second Section of the Provincial Court, the lawyers requested the nullity of the evidence, appealing to alleged violations of rights. However, the Chamber rejected their claims and decided to continue with the hearing.
