The criminal section of the Cádiz Court of Instance, Plaza number 4, finally archived the proceedings and declared the offences time-barred.[1] The order grants full dismissal for nearly thirty investigated people.[1] Prosecutors had sought four years and three months in prison and individual fines of up to half a million euros for those accused.[1] The ruling extinguishes all criminal liability and closes a case dating to 2012 without the facts ever reaching trial.[1]
The network was accused of moving nearly 200 kilos of hashish, with more than 150 kilos allegedly distributed from the Costa del Sol.[1] The estimated overall value of the drug the organisation allegedly moved exceeded 343,000 euros.[1] In a key seizure on 8 March 2013 in Villanueva del Trabuco, officers found 220 tablets totalling 21 kilos valued at 33,900 euros hidden in the air-conditioning duct and boot.[1] Between March and June 2013 police detected stashes of 20 to 54 kilos of hashish, including a batch in Linares valued at more than 41,000 euros.[1]
The case began in summer 2012 after Morocco’s Royal Gendarmerie alerted the Guardia Civil about a boat intercepted at sea with a drug stash and several Spanish citizens arrested.[1] Investigators described a network allegedly directed from France and coordinated in Spain by a man based in Fuengirola.[1] The drug allegedly entered via the Cádiz coast, was hidden in vehicle double bottoms and distributed to points in mainland Spain and the neighbouring country.[1] The prosecution indictment for public-health offences and unlawful possession of weapons was formalised in November 2014.[1] Trial dates in November 2016, November 2019, October 2021 and November 2023 were all suspended because defendants were untraced, lacked counsel, were not summoned or were wanted.[1] The court found the five-year limitation period had run excessively with no step capable of interrupting it, holding that trial listings frustrated by procedural failings do not interrupt prescription.[1]
