A national police officer stands accused of disloyalty for handling documents during narcotics interventions. In the trial’s opening session, the officer denied confiscating any narcotics seized during operations at the Alcoy outpost and said he did not alter the intervention records. He admitted to entering the unit with small quantities of seized narcotics on two occasions, each time taking half a gram of cocaine, but he expressed remorse in both instances. He claims he returned the drugs after a statement was taken before the jury this week in Alicante.
The prosecution seeks to sentence the 40-year-old officer to four years in prison, a 6000-euro fine, and a special disqualification from public service for the charge of disloyalty in the custody of documents. He has served in the national police for six years. The defense, meanwhile, requests acquittal and disputes the facts presented by the prosecution.
narcotic intervention
As alleged by the Prosecutor’s Office, the defendant, stationed at the Alcoy Police Station, allegedly confiscated a narcotic substance during police interventions. The drugs were reportedly found in small envelopes attached to corresponding intervention records and were allegedly removed before the material could be sent to the Health Zone of the Sub-Governmental delegation in Alicante for analysis.
The Public Department’s case cites four instances in the summer of 2020 where officers are said to have manipulated intervention records, creating a record that could be misused by civilians or disguise possession of narcotics on public roads.
According to the prosecutor, the officer emptied an envelope attached to the report that supposedly contained doses of cocaine. The drugs were kept at the Alcoy Police Station, with the suspect linked to key areas used for emergencies and file storage.
Additionally, on 24 and 25 September 2020, the prosecution maintains that the officer altered three other intervention reports and emptied the attached envelopes into the Police Station’s records, allegedly replacing the drugs with harmless substances to conceal their disappearance. The drugs were seized at Alcoy Police Station.
three shifts
The accused has been a police officer since 2008 and has been stationed in Alcoy since 2011. In his statement, he asserted that he never stole drugs and pointed out that colleagues had left the records with the substances present in the complaints office, but three officers handling three shifts could have influenced the process.
The drug-related records were collected every morning except weekends and then transferred to another office within the Citizens’ Security Brigade tied to the Alcoy Police Station. The defendant admitted at trial to visiting the file twice to search for pages and, upon seeing the box with the minutes, taking a dose of cocaine for personal use before returning the paper to the envelope. He claimed he later realized the act and tried to fix it by returning the envelope, doing the same the next day and returning the item again.
The defense argued for acquittal, asserting that the officer did not steal drugs and that more than 30 potential access points existed to the minutes of the interventions. Attorney Gerson Vidal Rodríguez read the defense statement to the jury, noting that the handling of the drug-related records was incomplete, lacked oversight, and was not consistently handed over. The defendant emphasized that a key belonged to the Secretariat of Citizen Security, where drug-related records were kept before being sent to the Drugs Division, a process known to most team members, especially veterans.
On the other hand, the defense highlighted that the officer faced personal stress since early summer 2020 due to his father’s severe illness and his own work pressures, suggesting that benzodiazepines and cocaine were used to cope with anxiety.
Anxiety
During questioning, the prosecutor noted that the Alcoy Education Court heard the officer’s account, and the prosecution asserted that after admitting the facts and denying the two doses of half-gram cocaine, the officer had already said he returned them. He claimed in court to have signed the statement without reading it due to concern, insisting, “I am an honest cop.” He also cited his father’s worsening condition as a factor and said diazepam helped manage anxiety while acknowledging missteps related to cocaine use.
The defense questioned the completeness of fingerprint records and asserted that copies of all hidden camera footage from the investigation were not provided, all of which were housed in the cardboard box containing the drugs.
At the hearing, it was alleged by the defense that the investigation was conducted by a commander from the Alcoy Police Station rather than being routed to the Interior Ministry, as occurred in 2015.