A new case of alleged police corruption that leads nowhere. A Barcelona court acquitted two Mossos d’Esquadra agents and a former Desokupa employee accused of placing nearly 900 grams of cocaine, 100 grams of hashish, a gun and an ax in the trunk of a longshoreman at the port of Barcelona. The court not only denies their participation in the events, but also considers that the defendants were subject to a “prospective” investigation and “without sufficient evidence.”
In the ruling, seen by elDiario.es, the Barcelona court strongly accused the investigation into the case promoted by the Internal Affairs Division (DAI) of the Mossos d’Esquadra, which from the beginning focused on the accused with “unfounded” and “irrelevant” motives.
The matter is not limited to the lack of sufficient evidence against the accused, which in itself would lead to their acquittal. The judges also approved the defenses of the accused (something that does not happen every day) presented by lawyers Sandra Melgar, José Ramon Sorney and Manuel Troiano, and annulled the orders that initiated the case and the wiretapping and installation of microphones in the office and police car of the accused police officers as illegal.
Like a house of cards, the charge against the accused fell at trial: the main witnesses did not remember anything and contradictory statements were heard between Mossos de Escodra agents (Internal Affairs and agents of the Sant Martí Police Station accused each other of being responsible for the request to pursue the case).
Despite the lack of evidence, the Public Prosecutor’s Office reiterated its request for prison sentences ranging from 18 to 9 years for the four defendants (the two police officers, the former Discoba employee, and his nephew). Everything has come to nothing.
Just as in Macedonia, another case of alleged police corruption due to drug trafficking, which also went nowhere, the Barcelona court condemned Mossos de Escodra’s attempt to benefit from her connections with police informants in criminal cases.
In the case that was tried, the court indicates that the agents maintained their suspicions against the accused during the investigation phase based on close associates who refused to reveal their identities, which “has no value to support any conviction regarding the accused.”
“It is certainly surprising that, in an investigation of such dimensions and scope, the data were not made public at the investigative stage or in the police report, because the prolonged anonymity throughout the case deprived the defenses of the ability to exercise an adequate defense with regard to the source of information which, without a doubt, was taken into account by the investigating officers to tighten the investigation and police service in relation to the accused police officers,” the judges explain.
The background to this trial is one of Catalonia’s crime hotspots that most authorities prefer not to look into. Everyone in a uniform or jacket talks about the port of Barcelona being one of the hotbeds of drug trafficking, with the necessary complicity of longshoremen and security forces who have become corrupt. But with the exception of a small group of police officers from across the force, prosecutors and judges who have uncovered several corrupt plots at the docks in recent years, what happens in port stays in port.
This is what happens in this case: the court acquitted the accused, but announced that it was proven that the drug “high” occurred. On June 15, 2016, someone placed approximately 900 grams of cocaine, 100 grams of marijuana, a gun, and an ax in the trunk of a dock worker’s car while he was at a gym. Their authors remain unpunished.