A local Benidorm police officer and his son, a national police trainee stationed in Madrid, have been incarcerated since last Sunday after being arrested along with four others in a drug operation. The National Police of Málaga seized 250 kilograms of hashish camouflaged in a hidden compartment of a van stopped in El Albir, in l’Alfàs del Pi, according to sources close to the case.
Apart from the two officers, two other detainees were ordered to remain in prison while the remaining two were placed under provisional release. The national police trainee was about to take the oath of office in a few days and was detained in Madrid by Internal Affairs agents. The trainee’s partner is another person arrested in the operation, and a building custodian from l’Alfàs del Pi is also listed among those detained.
Crimes
Those arrested face charges depending on their degree of involvement, including organized crime, drug trafficking, and disclosure of secrets.
The City of Benidorm has already decided to suspend the local police officer provisionally from duties and pay, following news of the arrest by the directive of the Instruction Court 1 in the tourist city.
The investigation, led by the Drugs and Organized Crime Unit of the Málaga Provincial Police Station and the Central Udyco of the General Police Judicial Office, has been ongoing since 2022 under secrecy in Málaga’s Instruction Court 3. Details about the origins of the probe have not been disclosed.
From Melilla to Málaga
The arrests took place on February 9 in Benidorm, l’Alfàs del Pi, and Madrid. Investigators following the suspects traced a van arriving in Málaga by ferry from Melilla and set up surveillance to monitor the vehicle amid suspicions that it carried drugs inside.
The van appears to have been purchased through a loan linked to the national police trainee’s partner, who was also detained in the operation.
The van journeyed from the Costa del Sol to the Marina Baixa and, upon reaching the El Albir area, was intercepted by the National Police. A thorough inspection revealed a hidden compartment holding roughly 250 kilograms of hashish.
The van’s driver, along with others identified by investigators as potentially connected to smuggling, were arrested. The Benidorm officer had two firearms seized—one a standard police sidearm and another carried with his documents.
Another detainee is a person who undertakes vehicle upholstery and allegedly prepared the hidden compartment inside the van where the drugs were found.