The magistrate of the Court of First Instance and Instruction 5 of Arrecife has confirmed the arrest of a total of nine people, in relation to the operation deployed on Monday morning in the capital of Lanzarote by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, although the Efe agency raises the number of detainees to 11.
Operation "Unión" has kept citizens and public officials of the City Council in suspense throughout the day. It has also been a hard blow for the PIL, since prominent politicians of this formation have been arrested in the framework of this judicial intervention.
For the moment, the communication cabinet of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has released the identity of six of those arrested. Among them, there are many well-known faces on the island such as Dimas Martín Martín, former president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, who is currently imprisoned in the Tahíche prison for the case of the agro-industrial complex. Also, in the framework of this operation, his daughter, María Elena Martín Martín, head of the Contracting service of the City Council of Arrecife and who also worked as a lawyer in the Technical Office of the Consistory, has also been arrested.
Another of the detainees is Ubaldo Becerra Robayna (PIL), deputy mayor and councilor of the General Urban Planning Plan of the same municipal administration, as well as José Miguel Rodríguez Sánchez (PIL), councilor of Finance and Urbanism of that corporation. In addition, the agents of the Civil Guard have also proceeded to the arrest of Matías Curbelo, a member of the PIL and Dimas Martín's right-hand man, when he was in a bar restaurant near the Arrecife City Council.
But this police intervention does not only affect members of the PIL. Segundo Rodríguez González, a historical socialist member, former mayor of Tinajo and former vice president and former councilor of the Island Council has also been transferred to judicial premises, as has Juan Rafael Arrocha Arrocha, head of the Municipal Technical Office and socialist member.
In addition, three businessmen and intermediaries in the alleged collection of illegal commissions, whose names have not been released by the TSJC, have been arrested in the framework of this operation. To them we should add, according to the Efe agency, two other people, a businesswoman and an intermediary, who would have been arrested during the afternoon, leaving a total of 11 arrests.
Searches in various addresses
Similarly, several agents have moved to the home of Segundo Rodríguez to carry out a search first thing in the morning, as well as in the home of the leader of the PIL, Dimas Martín, who has witnessed this intervention. Also, the home of his daughter, Elena Martín, located in Costa Teguise, has also been searched.
The detainees are charged with several crimes against the Public Administration, such as bribery, prevarication, influence peddling, negotiations and activities prohibited to public officials, illegal exactions and against land management.
The operation consisted of the entry and search of the Arrecife City Council and its technical office, as well as other entries and searches in companies and homes of the main defendants, with prior judicial authorization. The judge has declared the secrecy of the summary of the proceedings.
