The magistrate of the Court of First Instance and Instruction 5 of Arrecife has confirmed the arrest of ten people, including the councilors of the Arrecife capital's City Council, Ubaldo Becerra and José Miguel Rodríguez, both from PIL, as well as two officials, a former president of the Island Council and several businessmen in the framework of an operation in which agents of the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard have participated.
The detainees, according to the communication cabinet of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, are accused of 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.
Ubaldo Becerra is first deputy mayor and councilor of the General Plan, while José Miguel Rodríguez is councilor in charge of Finance and Urbanism. Likewise, the head of Contracting of the City Council, Elena Martín, daughter of the founder of PIL, Dimas Martín, as well as the head of the technical office, Rafael Arrocha, have been arrested.
In addition, the Civil Guard agents have also proceeded to arrest Matías Curbelo, a PIL militant and Dimas Martín's right-hand man, when he was in a bar restaurant near the Arrecife City Council. Similarly, several agents have moved to the home of Segundo Rodríguez, a historical militant of the PSOE, where they have also carried out a search, as well as in the home of the leader of the PIL, Dimas Martín.
