Julián has not been a VTC driver for three months and already knows “how this works”. “Shortly after the start, three children in the Lavapiés region They offered me to take a bale in the trunk to get extra.. Shortly after, someone else hired me to stand on different portals. He went out, had to deliver something and went back to the car. The police are not stupid, they already smell a whiff and stop us more and more. Look around you in Madrid and you will see the VTC stopping at every checkpoint”, he explained to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA of the Prensa Ibérica group.
So much so that five people were convicted in Madrid alone in the last year, both drivers and passengersCylinders full of compressed cocaine, backpacks loaded with heroin and marijuana, and secret bags of MDMA, ketamine, and marijuana all over their bodies trying to take advantage of the VTC service.
“We as drivers can’t do anything, we just want more control by the Police, whose work we respect a lot, but frankly we we can’t cache clients José Manuel Berzal, national executive head of UNAUTO, one of the main associations representing the chauffeur-driven car rental industry in Spain, explains to this newspaper.
“Pink Panther” “in the groin area”
According to the judicial documents EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA had access to, a passenger was sentenced on 7 March by the Madrid County Court. three years in prison after the local Alcobendas police “hunted” him in a random check of VTC vehicles.
Inside his pants, especially in the “crotch area”, was a ready-made drug store “to carry out illegal and indiscriminate transactions” containing MDMA, cannabis, ketamine, amphetamines and several bags of 2C-B. called ‘pink panther’ or ‘luxury drug‘. The judge estimates that the seized may have been sold on the street for a total of 890 euros.
Likewise, the County Court sentenced a passenger who had been detained during a routine check in Carabanchel to one year’s imprisonment in hiding. a backpack with about 100 grams of marijuana under the driver’s seat it could be sold on the market for around 500 euros. He was also carrying 60 euros, which proved to come from “illegal drug trafficking”, so he may have stopped earlier to sell the substance.
“I think one of my clients did something similar. I can’t guarantee that because in these cases it’s better not to ask, but he kept me to stop at different portals and it seemed like I needed to deliver something and it went up again”, explains one VTC driver. “It is known in the industry that Intensified by the pandemic and that if something is not done, they will continue to do it because it is very comfortable for them”.
On the run with 3 kilos of heroin
For example, in June last year, a 20-year-old young man, who is in full isolation due to the coronavirus, was convicted in Moratalaz by Madrid municipal police, “surprised”, entering the VTC with a large red bag. .
In addition to a precision scales and four bladesfound components for ‘cutting out’ narcotic substances such as agents cannabis resin, MDMA and caffeine or phenacetin. In total, more than two years’ imprisonment for a crime against public health, and fist given to one of the copspreviously resisted with “blows and kicks”.
In any case, he wasn’t the only one caught trying to escape with a bag of drugs at a VTC. A person with a backpack was arrested in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Orcasur. three kilos of herointherefore he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
including drivers
But the problem is not just with customers. On February 28, the Madrid County Court sentenced a VTC driver to one year and nine months in prison for committing crimes against public health, as EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA found out thanks to the forensic documents of the case.
The 57-year-old man, who was arrested on one of the roads that cuts through the Tetuán neighborhood and ends in Paseo de la Castellana, was stopped by a plainclothes police vehicle while carrying several bags. cylinders filled with compressed cocaine. 330 euros in the judge’s shirt pocket, which he thought proved to be the result of the settlement.
A month before this conviction, that is, at the end of January 2023, Madrid Municipal Police reported that they had arrested a VTC driver that he was carrying with him. 37 grams of drugs between what looks like pink cocaine and heroinin addition to the 185 euro bills that could be the result of drug trafficking.
Driver sentenced to 9 years in prison and 31 million euros fine
However, the VTC driver who was recently involved in a more important case was one who was sentenced to prison by the Madrid State Court last year. 9 years in prison and 31 million euro fine After actively participating as an undercover driver in a smuggling network trying to bring drugs from Ecuador to a ship in the Humanes region.
Police did not confirm whether they intensified their control
Police contacted by this newspaper did not want to confirm whether they were. increased random checks on taxis and VTC therefore, however, there is a feeling among some drivers that it is. “They’re not stupid, they smell a whiff because they’re stopping us more and more,” explains Julián.
Corps Representatives personally acknowledge that there is no directive that directs them to do more checking, but that they must be mindful of “rented scooters, deliverymen, taxi drivers, VTC, and the like.” They’ve been like ‘teledroga’ since the pandemic”.
The situation of smugglers who sent drugs using Glovo service during the pandemic process has been one of the most important and alarming events because if the sellers are arrested with the substance in their hands. may be involved in the procedure.
“Just as a customer can refuse to get in because of a situation or because the driver is insecure, VTC employees can do the same. In this sense, platforms protect us, we know that we may not get customers. UNAUTO’s national executive head assures that he will propose drug trafficking as one of the topics to be discussed at the next meeting.