The Provincial Court of La Rioja has imposed prison sentences on five members of a group dedicated to the sale and distribution of heroin and cocaine in Logroño, with sentences ranging from two years and three months to one year and nine months in prison.
As reported by the Superior Court of Justice, four of the defendants admitted the facts and the sentences proposed by the Public Prosecutor's Office, and were therefore convicted by a consent judgment to one year and nine months in prison.
The fifth accused, however, rejected the agreement and was tried. The ruling sentences her to two years and three months in prison as the perpetrator of a crime of trafficking in narcotic substances that cause serious harm to health, appreciating the aggravating circumstance of recidivism.
The case was opened following several complaints from residents who reported the existence of two drug dealing points in the Logroño neighborhood of Varea.
Police investigations made it possible to confirm various transactions of heroin and cocaine to consumers and to identify the members of two family units who were allegedly responsible for the distribution of said substances.
During the investigation, surveillance, tracking, and interventions were carried out on buyers, who were found to be in possession of drug doses they had just purchased moments before.
Later, searches carried out in the investigated homes made it possible to find narcotic substances ready for sale, precision scales, utensils for preparing doses, and significant amounts of cash considered to be proceeds from the illicit activity.
Regarding the accused who was finally tried, the Court considers it proven that she sold three small packets of heroin and cocaine to a consumer who had traveled to her home.
Although no witness directly saw the drug being handed over, the court emphasizes that the sequence of police surveillance, the statements made by the buyer at the time of their interception, and the items subsequently found in the home constitute a set of solid, convergent, and sufficiently conclusive indications of trafficking activity.
The sentence gives special importance to the statements of the agents involved in the investigation, who recounted how the buyer accessed the property and left a few minutes later carrying the narcotic substances that were seized from him.
Likewise, the Court considers the appearance in the home of more than 12,500 euros in cash, a precision scale, plastic cutouts prepared to make doses, and items consistent with those usually used in drug distribution.
The court dismisses the explanations offered by the accused regarding the origin of the money and the purpose of the seized items, considering them to be neither credible nor compatible with the entirety of the evidence presented.
Furthermore, it recalls that the absence of drugs in the home search does not prevent the appreciation of a drug trafficking offense when there is other sufficient incriminating evidence that proves the illicit activity.
The ruling is not final, as an appeal has been filed with the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of La Rioja.