The National Court has sentenced three military personnel for using armored vehicles of the Army to introduce drugs into the Peninsula. The court found that these three “narcolegionarios” (Corporal Samir Ahmed Al Lal, who was sentenced to eight years and two days in prison; and soldiers Daniel Sanchez and Francisco Javier Padiel, who received four years and one day in prison) organized to hide packages of hashish inside several BMR [acronym for Medium Armored Vehicles], which were transported in February 2014 from a base in Melilla to a barracks in Viator, Almería. “I picked up that hashish from a garage in Melilla and, minutes before boarding, I introduced it into those two BMRs,” one of them confessed during the trial.
The sentence describes how the three military personnel played different roles in the scheme. The most important role is attributed to Al Lal, a first corporal of the Gran Capitán 1st Legion, who had established a relationship with members of a drug trafficking network, according to the resolution. His figure was already crucial for prosecutor Francisco Javier Moltó, who considers him a link with the other two soldiers on trial. In fact, the National Court implicates Al Lal in two drug smuggling operations. According to the magistrates, the corporal was responsible for introducing a first shipment of hashish (62 kilos distributed in 122 packages) into the military base in Melilla, with the intention of placing it inside a BMR that was going to embark towards the Peninsula. However, on February 17, 2014, the military Canine Service detected this drug inside the armored vehicle. The value of the seized drug exceeded 90,000 euros, according to the judges.
Despite the setback, Al Lal and his accomplices did not give up. “They maintained hope in another shipment of hashish housed in two other military vehicles,” explains the court’s ruling, dated January 30 and accessed by EL PAÍS. The sentence indicates that, “following the same formula,” they had prepared the shipment of more merchandise: almost 20 kilos of hashish (distributed in 170 packages), which they had hidden in two other BMRs that arrived in Almería. To achieve this, as proven, the scheme relied on soldier Daniel Sanchez, who admitted during the trial that he had introduced the drugs into the armored vehicles. The third implicated, Francisco Javier Padiel, stationed at the Viator barracks, was supposed to remove it from the military compound. But his intentions were thwarted, as investigators intercepted this second shipment of hashish on February 20, 2014. This second batch of drugs was valued at around 40,000 euros, according to the court ruling.
In addition to sentencing these three military personnel, the National Court has sentenced six other individuals for their involvement in the drug trafficking network. Among them, Mohamed Chemlal, known as Haimito, described by the public prosecutor as one of the “leaders” who “organized” different drug transfers. The investigation also revealed the shipment of about 162 kilos of hashish sent by mail to the Canary Islands; and another 16 kilos hidden in a car that on September 3, 2013, was about to board the Sorolla ship to travel from Melilla to Almería. The court acquitted Civil Guard Alaud Din Ali, who was assigned to security duties at the port of Melilla and was linked to the network for allegedly providing information. He denied this during his testimony at the trial.
