Algeciras (Cádiz) (EFE)
The court has agreed to the release on bail for Antonio Tejón, leader together with his brother Isco Tejón of the Castaña clan, and for the other three defendants in this macro-trial who were still in prison and for whom it has set a somewhat lower bail, of 300,000 euros, sources close to the case have confirmed to EFE.
None of the four have so far (until this noon) paid the bail, so they have not yet been able to be released, according to sources close to the case.
The court has agreed to this measure once the “Operation Dismantle” macro-trial, which began last April and has lasted until mid-July, and which has been the largest drug-trafficking trial held in Spain in number of defendants, has concluded and is awaiting sentencing.
The resolution also responds to the time in pretrial detention that these four defendants had served until the trial.
Preventive prison
In fact, almost a year ago, in September 2022, the maximum period of stay in pretrial detention for them expired.
Before the deadline expired, the seventh section of the Provincial Court of Cádiz extended the preventive detention of the other three defendants in Operation Dismantle who remained imprisoned awaiting trial for two more years, in a process that led to more than 150 people being prosecuted for drug trafficking.
The dangerousness of the crimes they were charged with, their recidivism and the risk of flight led the court to admit the prosecutor’s request that they be exceptionally kept in pretrial detention to ensure their presence at trial.
The trial finally began last April with 152 initial defendants, which were reduced since the accusation was withdrawn from 26.
Another 70 accepted sentences in accordance with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, between one year in prison and 3 years and nine months.
In total, these sentences agreed for these 70 defendants add up to 153 years in prison and fines worth 143.7 million euros.
A group of fifty defendants are waiting to hear the sentence, including Antonio Tejón, for whom the Anti-Drug Prosecutor is asking for 15 years in prison and 204 million euros in fines for crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, against public health, reception and smuggling.
The total sentences requested for the rest amount to 708 years in prison and 5,586 million euros in fines. EFE