A judge at a criminal court (juzgado de lo Penal) in Santiago de Compostela sentenced a man to one year in prison for posting about half a kilo of hashish from the city to Malta.[1] The man accepted the sentence in an agreement between his defence lawyer and the public prosecutor, who had sought two and a half years in prison and a fine twice as large.[2] The sentence also carried a fine of 2,026 euros and the prison term was suspended, so he will not serve it if he commits no further crime over the next two years.[2]

The parcel was found on 21 April 2023 during a random inspection of postal packets at Santiago airport.[2] The package was opened because a scanner showed its contents did not match the sender’s description.[1] Inside was a vacuum-sealed transparent container holding slabs of a resinous substance that weighed 441.5 grams and tested positive for hashish.[2]

The Judicial Police of A Coruña, working with the Guardia Civil’s Fiscal and Borders detachment, traced the parcel to a computer shop in the city.[1] The man who handed it in gave no identification, saying he had left his documents at home, so officers could not identify him at the counter.[1] He called the shop half an hour later to ask for the parcel’s tracking number, leaving his phone number in the shop’s call records, which allowed the Guardia Civil to identify him.[2]