Marcos, aged 46, was the constant companion of pilot Francisco Javier MP, known as Kiko el Cabra, a figure linked to a fatal collision that left two civil guards dead aboard a drug boat near Barbate. The pair were tied to the illicit world of “rubbers” — gliders used to ferry narcotics by sea — and Marcos died at the end of January, while Kiko the Goat swore revenge as his partner fell.
Civil Guard sources familiar with the incident told El Periódico de España, part of the Prensa Ibérica group, that barely two weeks earlier Marcos’s partner had perished in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Marcos, an experienced speedboat pilot, died in a collision with a Civil Guard patrol boat near the Guadalquivir river mouth during an operation on a drug vessel.
When patrol boat crews reached the drug vessel, they discovered Marcos had been detained and no one else was aboard. In reality, those on board were a group of individuals transporting gasoline, either resting or hiding as agents approached. The smugglers attempted to flee the vessel, but their escape plan ended in disaster as the patrol boat was struck, and Marcos lost his life in the ensuing crash.
veteran
The events occurred on January 31. Yet the death of his longtime partner did not push Kiko el Cabra toward retirement. After more than 15 years in the smuggling circuit, he began by manually unloading bales of marijuana from Morocco onto Cadiz’s beaches. The enterprise evolved into a system of “rubber bands” for moving cargo, with him starting as a co-pilot, then serving as a driver, and eventually becoming one of the most seasoned pilots in the trade.
The loss of a trusted partner did not stop him. Instead of stepping back, he kept sailing and, in an act of vengeance, collided with a Civil Guard boat off Barbate, resulting in the deaths of agents Miguel Ángel González Gómez and David Pérez Carracedo, ages 39 and 43. People acquainted with the Bosphorus operation described that Kiko took deliberate actions to draw attention before passing over the patrol boat, rather than a mere accident.
Kiko el Cabra, who piloted the drug boat that struck the two Benemérita officers, carried a criminal record that included resistance to authority, disobedience, and money laundering. Marcos, his late partner, also had a history tied to smuggling and drug trafficking within a larger criminal organization. The duo was reported to be transporting tobacco in addition to marijuana. El Cabra had been detained the previous year on a marijuana seizure of around 40 kilograms but was released.
Lives in Villa Narco
The alleged mastermind behind Barbate’s attacks enjoys a level of affluence driven by the salaries of glider pilots, with each trip potentially yielding up to 15,000 dollars. El Cabra possessed a home in La Línea de la Concepción and another in El Zabal, a district within the town colloquially nicknamed Villa Narco due to the concentration of merchants there. Reports also noted the presence of a four-by-four vehicle described by EFE.
During the incident, six individuals were aboard the glider. They were responsible for the crushing impact on the Civil Guard agents. In the immediate aftermath, three of the crew abandoned the vessel, and their companions reportedly boarded a waiting car in Sotogrande after the craft had dropped them off. It was later suggested that three of the aboard were glider technicians who had joined to repair a malfunction.
After leaving those three men in Sotogrande, Kiko el Cabra and two other crew members slept on the vessel, later grounding near La Línea the following morning. They fled on foot and hid in the Sierra de Carboneras as authorities coordinated a land and air operation. The chase concluded with the capture of the trio around mid-afternoon. The other two crew members were identified as a 39-year-old man and a 26-year-old man; neither had a prior criminal record.
Meanwhile, the two fallen agents were laid to rest. A moment at the funeral chapel featured the presence of Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the interior minister. The widow of David Pérez Carracedo refused to permit the minister to place a medal on the coffin, stating that her husband would not have wanted such an act performed by the minister.