On December 12, agents from Division IV of the Central Drug Brigade were waiting at Madrid-Barajas airport for the arrival of the flight from Mexico City carrying businessman Bautista Suárez Pérez from A Coruña. Coincidentally, he was on a tourist trip with his partner when, a few days earlier, police had found 7,500 kilograms of cocaine hidden among frozen tuna fillets in one of his four thriving businesses, the largest stash seized in Galicia in the history of third parties in Spain. At the foot of the plane, Suárez Pérez was handcuffed and sent to prison as the alleged responsible for this huge shipment, which was largely intended for distribution in Europe, where it would have generated a profit of 500 million euros.
But this Thursday, nine days after his arrest, the Court No. 5 of A Coruña released the detainee without bail, but on charges and withheld his passport, allowing the appeal of his lawyer; In it, he praised his client's business potential and claimed that he had fallen victim to an operation carried out by the international cocaine mafias: a blind hook or drug concealment method used in the container trade, which, according to the lawyer, had absolutely nothing to do with his business activities.
The judge did not assess the risk of the entrepreneur fleeing. His decision surprised investigators, who had spent months scrutinizing Suárez Pérez's activities in importing fish from Latin America and his high standard of living. “There is no evidence to justify his stay in prison,” defends lawyer Víctor Bouzas Galbán. “Since 2008, this man has been dedicated to the frozen fish sector, moving an average of 300 containers per year, without ever having had any problems or history in his history and we have proven this in court with accounting and banking documents and work,” says Life he. The businessman's lawyer recalled that the prosecutor, who was not present at the court hearing, had no objection to his client's release.
The police investigation contradicts the court order. The goods arrived in Vigo and the four containers of cocaine were transported by road to the Cambre industrial area. A transport controlled by Udyco agents until it reached the company's frozen fishing ship Mare Azurro, owned by Bautista Suárez. There they arrested four employees who were released after police questioning, although they remain under investigation.
Mare Azzurro achieved sales of 23 million euros last year. The police and the tax office have placed the businessman and administrator of the company at the head of an allegedly created corporate network Shipping large shipments of cocaine from South America to A Coruña, the headquarters of the four family companies controlled by Bautista Suárez. The company is dedicated to the international wholesale of frozen fish and seafood, but also to the purchase and sale of rural and urban real estate, buildings and structures.
The packages were marked with four different logos. The name El compadre and the portrait of a warrior are two of them. “The businessman responsible wanted to cover up his illegal activity with a large flow of containers by sea, for which he used various originating companies, always destined for the Iberian Peninsula. “Investigators monitored the company's activities for months and discovered similar shipments, the purpose of which was to provide evidence of alleged legal activity intended in due course to conceal the transportation of the now seized cocaine,” state police said.
What influences the most is what happens next. So you don't miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe to
One of the packages of cocaine from the 7.5 ton supply. The logo indicates the recipient of the drug: police
Police and tax authority officials note an increase in cocaine shipments due to overproduction at the source, partly due to the ban on fumigation of plantations with chemical substances. One piece of information to measure these surpluses of coca production is the average price per kilogram of this drug, which has fallen by almost half in some points of sale in Spain. In fact, cocaine, which before this date cost more than 33,000 euros per kilo, has been sold for around 18,000 euros since 2020.
The historic seizure of eleven tons of cocaine in recent weeks comes in addition to other seizures this year in Algeciras (Cádiz), such as the stash of 9.3 tons last August, confirmed by the dominance of the Balkan Cartel gangs, which mainly under the control of citizens of Albanian origin.
The year 2023 breaks a record for confiscations, as the state police alone seized around 20 tons more than last year. Customs surveillance also confirms this increase in drugs: the number of seizures has more than doubled in the last twelve months, which corresponds to the arrests made by the Guardia Civil's anti-drug units.
Limited time special offer
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_