The law courts in Málaga will begin the trial tomorrow of members of a drug ring, including two Guardia Civil officers stationed in Salobreña.

The case involves 24 accused who are facing a total of 150 years’ imprisonment between them for allegedly setting up a system to import from Morocco by sea and transport the hashish to France by road.

One of the ‘consignments’ took place in April 2016 involving two of the accused and 97 kilos of hashish being transported to the north of Spain. However, they were intercepted in Torrelavega (Cantabria) but one of them managed to escape.

That same year in May they attempted to get another consignment through to Perpignan, hidden under a false floor in a van carrying fruit but they were intercepted on the A-7 where it passes through the municipality of Vélez Benaudalla. The van was being escorted by a rent-a-car, which was going ahead to report any police controls. The occupants of both vehicles were arrested.

Other members of the gang were in charge of getting the drugs over from Morocco and counted on two Guardia Civil officers whose task it was to keep the gang informed of police movements so that the RIBs could be landed without fear of being intercepted by the Guardia Civil.

In a police operation in June 2020 some of the gang members were caught in Rincón de la Victoria with a consignment of 2.1 tonnes of hashish, divided into 71 packages, with a total street value of 3.3m euros.

With the suspects in custody the police obtained warrants to search their homes and in one they found official documents belonging to the Servicio Marítimo de la Guardia Civil for Málaga and Almería, as well as from the GCHQ in Granada and the customs police in Algerciras. (Cádiz).

The two suspected police officers are charged with belonging to a criminal organisation and drug smuggling. The Public Prosecutor recommends eight years each plus 15 years banned from the force.

The trial will run between the 8th and the 11th of this months, before being adjourned until the same days of the month in March.

(News: Salobreña, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)