The Sixth Section of the Provincial Court has suspended the trial that was to be held this Tuesday and Wednesday, May 5th and 6th, via videoconference against six defendants accused of introducing more than 400 kilos of cocaine in Lanzarote through a boat that arrived in La Santa in 2017.
The trial was to be held as it is a case with prisoners, which is one of the exceptions allowed during the state of alarm since, except for urgent actions, judicial acts remain paralyzed throughout the country.
However, according to reports now from the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC), the hearing has had to be suspended because the Public Prosecutor's Office is asking for high penalties and the Royal Decree Law of April 28 states that the physical presence of the accused will be necessary in trials for serious crimes.
Penalties of between 14 and a half years and 17 years and nine months in prison
Specifically, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for penalties of between 14 and a half years and 17 years and nine months in prison for the accused for crimes against public health, membership of a criminal group and falsification of an official document, in addition to a fine of 78.7 million euros for all of them.
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, "the defendants, in agreement with each other and with other persons whose identity could not be determined, planned the maritime transport of cocaine from Insular America or South America, possibly Antigua and Barbuda, to the Island of Lanzarote through the use of a boat arranged for that purpose".
The six defendants were arrested between August 6 and 9, 2017, three of them after being "surprised" by the Civil Guard when they were trying to disembark 402.17 kilograms of cocaine in La Santa. After their arrest, four of them were placed in provisional detention.
