The drugs, concealed in a truck originating from Morocco carrying watermelons and fake plastic potatoes filled with hashish, were intercepted in an industrial warehouse in Huércal de Almería. The police investigation, supported by court-authorized GPS tracking and collaboration with French authorities, led to the discovery of the shipment.
The sentence establishes that the defendants acted in coordination to import and distribute the substance, rejecting their exculpatory accounts. Furthermore, four of the convicted individuals will be expelled from national territory for seven years after serving three-quarters of their sentence.
The defendants engaged in an 'erratic' journey for hours, driving through residential areas, open fields, gas stations, and the vicinity of the technological park (PITA) before heading with the truck and a lead vehicle towards an industrial estate in Huércal de Almería.
Upon arrival at the warehouse, located on Júpiter street, they awaited two other defendants who provided them with a key to access the trailer. These latter two were also engaged in surveillance activities in the surrounding area of the facility.
Agents then entered the industrial warehouse and accessed the truck, finding the drugs hidden behind pallets of watermelons. The hashish was divided into burlap sacks of various sizes and with different inscriptions. Some sacks contained what appeared to be potatoes but were actually rigid plastic molds with cannabis resin tablets inside, according to testimony from the officers involved in operation ‘San Pedro’.
