The former footballer Jonatan Valle and several defendants for an alleged drug trafficking in Santander and its surroundings have not reached any agreement with the Prosecutor's Office so far, which demands four years in prison for the former Racing player, so the case will be resolved in an oral trial.
This Wednesday, the preliminary hearing was held at the Provincial Court of Cantabria, convened to verify whether the defenses of the accused reached an agreement with the public ministry.
However, in the hearing, in which four of the six investigated were presented, no agreement was reached, so the presiding judge and president of the Third Section has informed the parties that the oral hearing is expected to be set for next September.
The prosecutor has stated before the court that, despite the conversations held with the lawyers and as of today, it has not been possible to reach an agreement, although it does not rule out that it may be reached with some of the implicated before the start of the trial.
According to what Europa Press has learned from judicial sources, for the session this Wednesday, the public prosecution had proposed to certain lawyers to reduce the penalties sought for their clients to the minimums provided for these crimes, as long as they provided documentation proving their status as drug addicts and thus mitigate their criminal responsibility, something that has not yet happened. In the case of the former player, the minimum penalty would be three years in prison.
Valle, who also played for Málaga, Recreativo de Huelva, or Burgos and hung up his boots in 2016, was arrested at the end of 2024 along with a dozen people for an alleged crime of drug trafficking and two others for illegal possession of weapons.
Six of the detainees have finally been prosecuted for the crime of drug trafficking, which would have been committed in the area of Santander and nearby municipalities.
In the home of one of them, utensils for drug preparation and 23,440 euros were found, which the prosecution links to the sale of narcotic substances.
According to the prosecutor, this defendant was warned of the imminent search, so when the agents entered the house, he was next to the toilet flushing the cistern and "was able to dispose of the drug evidence in his possession."
Another man is also listed as a defendant who allegedly was paid 4,000 euros a month to guard the drugs.
In his house, ten packages of cocaine were found with a total weight close to two kilograms and valued at 117,764 euros, in addition to 1,955 euros that would come from the sale of narcotics.
Alongside them, three other people sit on the bench accused of cocaine trafficking and one more for alleged hashish trafficking.
Imputed crimes and requested penalties
For the Prosecutor's Office, the investigated facts constitute five crimes against public health related to substances that cause serious harm, referring to cocaine, and one crime against public health of substances that do not cause serious harm, in this case hashish.
The requests for conviction add up to seven years in prison and 120,000 euros in fines for the two main accused; five years in prison and 200 euros in fines for another defendant, who is a repeat offender; four years in prison for Valle and another implicated, and two years in prison for the last of the accused.