Entradas to a nightclub, drugs for personal use, and a trip to Ibiza that may not have happened. According to the investigation, these are among the gifts allegedly used to “pay for help” in the Urban Planning department of the Alicante City Council to the municipal architect who was also arrested in the operation, considered the head of a drug trafficking network.
Both suspects remain in the provincial police cells after their arrest, and are expected to appear before a judge on Friday for charges including drug trafficking, money laundering, and bribery.
Alongside them, ten other people have been detained. Some are already free with charges, while others will also face the court this Friday.
Among those detained are personnel who managed two marijuana grow operations located in separate industrial spaces in Novelda and La Romana, the investigations beginning from a probe led by the court of Instruction No. 4 in Novelda.
The municipal official, who had barely a year of permanent status and had moved from the Urban Management area to Planning, is accused of performing favors for the alleged network head in Urbanism to monetize properties bought or built with money allegedly sourced from narcotics.
Pinpointing tapped phone conversations, investigators note that one of the properties is a tourist apartment building the alleged trafficker wanted to construct on Maldonado Street in Alicante’s historic center. The plan faced a requirement from the Town Hall for a light court to be kept within the property, which would have allowed two additional residences and greater profitability, a condition the Town Hall would not permit.
Still, officers have records of Rafael G.M., who has prior drug-trafficking convictions, pressing architect Francisco N. T. to assist with Urban Planning procedures, including a potential meeting with the councilwoman. The official claimed to have arranged it, though there is no confirmation that such a meeting took place.
There were also efforts to secure a location on Altamira Street in Alicante for a friend of the alleged trafficker that might have operated without a license or with a license corresponding to the activity conducted; assistance from the architect was sought in that matter as well.
All of this, supposedly, was linked to invitations to a nightclub on San Fernando Street that the architect would attend with friends, paid for with drugs and a trip, possibly to Ibiza, which apparently did not materialize.
The two lead figures arrested are childhood friends, according to investigators.