The High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) has upheld the sentence handed down by the Provincial Court of Málaga to four men involved in a violent assault to steal a van loaded with drugs in the Málaga town of Manilva. A fifth defendant has been acquitted, as the original ruling had already determined.
The events date back to February 2017, when two of the accused, having received inside information about the transport by road of a large quantity of hashish, organised a plan with other individuals to intercept the shipment. The location chosen for the assault was the Manilva toll booth.
According to the ratified ruling, those involved travelled from Algeciras in two vehicles and followed the van carrying the drugs. One of the cars positioned itself in front and the other behind, forcing the driver to stop. At that moment, one of the accused brandished a firearm, threatened the driver, assaulted him and forced him out of the vehicle, after which two of those involved took the van and fled.
The vehicle was taken to a rented house in the Sabinillas area, where they unloaded the bales of drugs before abandoning the van. The police investigation led to the discovery in that house of 30 bales containing hashish resin with a total weight of 899.6 kilos, valued at more than 1.4 million euros on the illicit market. Weapons and forged identity documents were also found in the searches.
The TSJA has dismissed the defendants’ appeals and upheld the sentences imposed by the Provincial Court of Málaga: three of those convicted will serve six and a half years in prison for drug trafficking and robbery with violence and intimidation. One of them receives an additional year for unlawful possession of weapons. The fourth defendant has been sentenced to three years for drug trafficking and a further year for document forgery.
The ruling also recognises the mitigating circumstance of undue delay because of the time that has elapsed since the events. The fifth defendant, meanwhile, has been acquitted, a decision which has also been upheld by Andalusia’s highest court.
