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A police officer has linked the Castañas clan for stash of 3,800 kilos of cocaine aboard the 'Karar'

A police officer has linked the Castañas clan, from Andalusia, with those accused of the stash of 3,800 kilos of cocaine aboard the 'Karar' in 2020, and companies from Galicia and northern Portugal that manufacture semi-rigid boats like those used by drug traffickers. Police surveillance of the members of the Galician criminal group allegedly led by Juan Carlos Santórum, the main defendant in the 'Karar' plot, began in June 2019 - the ship was boarded in April 2020 - and confirmed trips from Andalusia by members from the Castañas, to Galicia and, from there, to Portugal. During these trips, they visited, according to investigators, ships in which vessels like those used by drug traffickers were built to receive drugs. The agent has mainly referred to the Galician Fidel F., one of the accused, who is dedicated to the manufacture of vessels in Galicia. In the trial being held at the Vigo headquarters of the Provincial Court of Pontevedra, where 28 people are accused, the second witness who testified this week has stated that he never saw a work routine for Santorum, his brother and other defendants. In his story, the police officer has also referred to other investigated persons who are not prosecuted, such as Sergio R.T., whom he has linked, through an intercepted telephone call to Fidel F., with a transaction to purchase 300 HP motors for boats. . In March 2020, the police detected that the businessman in the nautical sector was requesting naval gray paint from a company, the kind used to go unnoticed by the boats that transport drugs to shore. On March 27, all the alarms went off, according to the researcher, following the so-called loss of a Portuguese telephone to Fidel F., which he returned and in which there was no communication. "We don't give it importance, but there is a coincidence with the Central Narcotics Brigade and they tell us that a report from the DEA - United States Agency - related that telephone number to a ship that was bringing a large amount of cocaine. We interpret it as a notice for Fidel F. to contact them by another means because they do not usually use conventional lines," the police officer stated. A subsequent communication from the DEA told the agents that "a guarantee person" was traveling on the ship, a certain José, of Galician origin, and that the ship had departed from Panama. Thus, after filtering the data of travelers who had flown from Spain to the Central American country, they found another of the defendants, José B.G. They tracked the route of the 'Karar', and that coincided with a new call from the Portuguese telephone, in this case to a number located in Madrid, which is attributed to it in the letter of accusation to the Colombian René Robledo, to tell him that "the transport had passed all the points" and would arrive the following week. From there, the organization accelerated preparations to receive the shipment. After an hour and a half of testimony, the defenses protested because the witness, behind a screen, was consulting some notes - 9 pages with 63 days outlined - and the hearing was suspended for a few minutes so that the parties had access to those documents. Back in the room, the defenses have asked that the witness's statement be annulled for procedural fraud and violation of the law by appearing with a script, but the magistrate has rejected it.

Trial regarding drug smuggle continued with interrogations

After three days of preliminary questions, the trial regarding the drug seizure aboard the 'Karar' faced the beginning of a key phase on April 22: the interrogations of the accused. The 14 crew members from Nepal and Bangladesh of the ship, which was transporting the 3.8 tons of cocaine, who will be released this week after four years in prison at the end of the maximum period of preventive detention, will be the first to testify. In the session, six of them already did so, including the captain, who, like the rest, confessed his guilt. Alim Ullah, the 48-year-old Bangladeshi, acknowledged that, after leaving Panama, they loaded the drugs on the high seas off the coast of Colombia and that the instructions were to take them to Vigo, where they were to land it about 350 nautical miles from the Olívic city. Along with the crew, Bueu resident José Manuel Blanco Gestido was on the ship, the only Spaniard on board, whom the captain and the other defendants who testified have incriminated by indicating that he was in charge of supervising the illicit cargo. Given the exceptional situation that the entire foreign crew was experiencing due to their imminent release – the maximum period of deprivation of liberty expires on April 25 at dawn – the prosecutor accepted that the interrogations of the 28 accused would begin with these sailors. The intention of their defense lawyers – given that, lacking economic means and roots in Spain, they will be welcomed in shelters spread across several Galician provinces – is to be excused from attending the trial sessions until the final day. Alim Ullah, the captain, was the first to testify. With the help of an interpreter. He confessed his participation in the drug trafficking operation that failed when at 6:20 a.m. on April 25, 2020, the “Karar” was boarded with the cache inside. The rest of the interrogated crew members also admitted their guilt: Mohammed Iman Sharif, Mohammed Ataur Rahman, Altaf Hossain, Mahfuzul Hoque and Tamang Kiran, all from Bangladesh except the last one, a Nepalese, as well as the remaining eight sailors who was to testify on April 23. All initially face, according to the prosecutor's provisional qualification document, 13,5 years in prison. They related how on the bridge of the “Karar” there was a nautical chart with the coordinates in pencil about the unloading point. When they left their countries of origin, several of them stressed, they were unaware that the voyage was to transport drugs, but already in Panama, where they left, they knew the illicit purpose of the trip and knew that they were carrying bales of cocaine on the ship. Another crew member reported that, after several days of crossing, they loaded the drugs in front of Colombia, a task that took them one or two hours. Other defendants gave more details about this moment, such as the electrician, the only one who did not need an interpreter. To load the bales they used a crane. It was the middle of the night, they were on the high seas and several boats with the drugs approached them. The only Galician who was on board wrote down with a pen in a book and all the bundles were stored in a tank, which was closed with screws and nuts. that Blanco Gestido, he said, secured with a flange. The Nepalese Tamang Kiran was the one who had contact with the outside world through satellite phone. He was speaking with a compatriot named Lama: he is not prosecuted in the case, but, according to the statements, he was one of the leaders in the illicit operation. Settled between Panama and Colombia, he was at the meeting prior to the departure of the “Karar”. Report with photo: https://www.farodevigo.es/gran-vigo/2024/04/22/capitan-karar-confiesa-cargaron-cocaina-colombia-destino-vigo-101392831.html

Detained police officer will testify in case of drug seizure

A police officer who has been detained in Vigo and removed for possible links to drug trafficking in connection with the seizure of the 'Karar', will finally testify in the trial. The defenses, after his arrest in March, requested that he not testify for his accusations and urged Internal Affairs to clarify whether it investigated the mysterious lack of 60 kilos of cocaine among the 3,824 kilos seized from the tug. The Pontevedra Court has resolved that he will testify as he is the main witness of the National Police. The trial begins on April 17, 2024, in Vigo. The chief inspector of the National Police who served as liaison for the Ministry of the Interior in Colombia until March, was arrested in Vigo last month.