Nine men were sentenced to a combined total of more than 30 years in prison and €4.05 million in fines.[1] The Provincial Court of Lleida delivered the sentences orally at the hearing on 29 October.[2] All nine were convicted of drug-related public health offences and membership of a criminal group.[1] The plea agreement with prosecutors cut sentences that had initially been sought at 80 years in prison and €60 million in fines.[3] The convictions are final; the parties said they would not appeal.[3] The court applied a mitigating factor for undue delays, and two defendants, including the leader, also for drug addiction.[1] The leader received four years and ten months in prison and a €650,000 fine.[1] The other eight accepted terms of between two years and four years and four months, with fines of up to €600,000.[2]

The network operated from at least November 2021 to March 2023, using transport companies, industrial warehouses and commercial vehicles to move drugs under the cover of legitimate deliveries.[1] Its leader administered two transport companies subcontracted by Correos Express, giving him access to commercial vehicles and logistical infrastructure.[1] On 8 November 2021, Catalan police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, intercepted a van in an industrial estate near the N-260 in La Seu d’Urgell.[1] Two pallets in the van held 29.16 kg of marijuana and 277.64 kg of hashish bound for Lyon.[1] Police put the retail value of that load at €1.94 million.[1] On 13 January 2023, 94.06 kg of marijuana buds were loaded into a van at a warehouse in Roquetes and seized on the AP-7 near L’Ampolla.[3] On 26 February 2023, officers stopped an Audi A5 in Barcelona carrying about 1 kg of cocaine of 87.8% purity towards Ibiza.[1] The case’s seizures totalled more than 401 kg: about 277.64 kg of hashish, 123.5 kg of marijuana and 1.04 kg of cocaine, plus small amounts of MDMA.[3] The driver of the Roquetes van was never found and was not covered by the plea agreement.[1]

The investigation was handled by the Court of La Seu d’Urgell because the 2021 interception took place there.[1] La Seu d’Urgell became the judicial centre of a prosecution involving warehouses in Tarragona, vehicles travelling towards Ibiza and consignments intended for destinations beyond Spain.[1]