The Civil Guard transferred one of the suspects in the death of two Civil Guard officers to the courts in Barbate, Cadiz on February 12. A report compiled by the Civil Guard detailed a number of indicators against the suspects that served as the basis for their imprisonment. During the hearing at the courts, the prosecution presented an additional piece of evidence: one of the accused admitted to telling the pilot “If you’re going to hit him, let me know because I’m recording.” Despite denying being on board the narco boat that caused the tragedy, all six suspects admitted to being at the port on one of the other five boats seeking refuge that night.
The prosecution highlighted during the hearing that all the detainees had admitted to being on a boat with four outboard engines that night, and that there was only one boat with these characteristics in the port. The report also highlighted that this particular boat had two antennas – one serving as a radar and the other providing mobile phone coverage to the occupants at sea – matching the characteristics of the boat that caused the death of the officers. After the incident, the narco boat was tracked to Sotogrande where three of the detainees disembarked, while the remaining three were followed by the Civil Guard for hours before being arrested at La Línea de la Concepción beach after abandoning the boat.
The report submitted by the police revealed damage on the narco boat’s hull that was compatible with a collision, and the prosecution requested the provisional imprisonment of the six detainees based on this evidence. The prosecution highlighted that the narco boat operators carried out a dangerous maneuver in the port of Barbate by deliberately ramming the Civil Guard boat, showing a coordinated and intentional effort rather than an accident. None of the suspects fell into the water during the impact, indicating their prior knowledge of the collision. The prosecution argued that the officers had no chance to defend themselves as the suspects intended to ram and run over the police boat despite knowing it was law enforcement.
The prosecution emphasized the fact that all the suspects were aware of the upcoming collision and had held on to prevent falling into the water during the impact. One of the detainees, Jose Antonio Gonzalez Cazorla, admitted to asking the pilot to warn him before hitting the Civil Guard boat so he could hold on. Despite claiming that he was only on the boat to fix a motor and denying involvement in the collision, Gonzalez Cazorla’s testimony contained inconsistencies that were highlighted during the interrogation by the judge. The prosecution argued that the suspects’ self-exonerating statements were an attempt to evade the consequences of their actions and that they were aware of the potential consequences of their actions on the victims.
The prosecution pointed out that the suspects should have been aware of the consequences of their actions due to the power of the narco boat and the destructive capacity of the propeller blades that caused fatal injuries to the victims. The prosecution concluded that the self-exculpatory statements made by the suspects did not reflect reality but were an attempt to avoid accountability for their actions. The in-depth investigation and evidence presented by the Civil Guard and prosecution painted a clear picture of the events leading to the tragic death of two Civil Guard officers and the involvement of the suspects in the narco boat attack.
