The Algeciras section of the Provincial Court of Cadiz has sentenced a drug trafficker to 28 years and two months in prison for running over a police officer with a SUV loaded with hashish in the early morning of September 5, 2020. The attack occurred during a police chase in Algeciras in which Isaías M. S., known as Rayo Maquin, caused serious injuries to the inspector Francisco Javier G. S., whom he hit just as he was getting out of the police vehicle to escape the attack. The sentence considers the trafficker guilty of a crime of assault with a dangerous instrument and two counts of attempted murder. The sentence also convicts Isaías M. of a drug trafficking offense and a charge of receiving stolen goods. Additionally, penalties are imposed on two accomplices of the main suspect, Alexis O., sentenced to three years and six months for a drug trafficking offense, and Mohamed A. sentenced to one year in prison for illegal possession of weapons.
The events took place around 6:35 am on September 5, 2020, on a road in Algeciras popularly known as the “yanqui road.” National Police investigators had received information that night about a hashish stash in the Getares area, which led to a pursuit involving the BMW driven by Isaías M., a vehicle that had been stolen just a month earlier in Marbella. The SUV was loaded with 17 packs of hashish, over 500 kilos of drugs. The police car, a Toyota Prius driven by Francisco Javier G. with a rookie officer as a passenger, positioned itself on the road in an attempt to block the suspect’s path, leaving enough space for them to pass without colliding. However, Isaías M. continued driving at high speed, forcing the two officers to exit the vehicle. It was then that Francisco Javier G. was struck at high speed, causing severe damage to his arm, leg, foot, and face. The officer, who has been recognized with a 60% disability, spent a month in the ICU, nearly lost his arm, underwent over 20 surgeries, and now has lasting consequences preventing him from living a normal and fully autonomous life.
The sentence argues that the driver’s behavior was motivated by a desire to cause significant harm, including personal harm, rather than disable the police vehicle trying to block him. It concludes that Isaías M. acted with knowledge of the lethal capabilities of the vehicle and foreseeing the possibility of ending the agents’ lives. The sentence has been received with satisfaction by Jupol, the largest police union, and the chief drug prosecutor of Campo de Gibraltar, Macarena Arroyo, who has been involved in the four-year investigation carried out by the Algeciras Court Number 3. They see the ruling as a step towards justice for one of the most severe and savage attacks that left the officer with life-changing injuries. Jupol considers the sentence to be exemplary and hopes it will help end the sense of impunity the drug traffickers have in the Campo de Gibraltar and the rest of Cadiz province.
The attack on the police officer in Algeciras is part of a series of assaults, aggressions, run-overs, and even shootouts targeting law enforcement by drug traffickers, intensified since the police crackdown in the Strait of Gibraltar in 2018. While the traffickers often claim to be defending themselves against robberies within their own ranks, the Anti-Drug Prosecutor of Andalusia has been warning about the increasing violence displayed by traffickers. The most serious recent incident occurred in February when the occupants of a narco-speedboat killed two Civil Guards in the port of Barbate. The ongoing violence against law enforcement in the fight against drug trafficking poses a significant challenge for authorities in the region.
