• Courts The 'coca queen', sentenced to 16 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering
  • Madrid The legend of the Miami never dies: dogs of prey, discos and links with the far right

The prosecutor has considerably reduced his request for sentences to the 81 defendants in the trial of the Miami drug trafficking and money laundering gang by applying to all the mitigating circumstance of undue delay of the case and to 66 of them the confession of the facts in exchange for accepting lesser sentences.

The National Court has resumed on Tuesday the macro-trial of this organization that is attributed to the introduction in Spain between 2007 and 2011 of at least 7.5 tons of cocaine and the laundering of huge amounts of money, among other crimes, facts for which its leader, Álvaro López Tardón, is already serving 150 years in prison in the United States.

For his brother Artemio, the prosecutor has reduced his request for a sentence from 46 to 15 years in prison for having acknowledged the crimes of money laundering, against the public treasury and falsification of documents, although he denied having participated in drug trafficking, which the prosecutor continues to attribute to him.

Other main defendants, Ana María Cameno, the coca queen, and her then husband, David Vela, for each of whom the Prosecutor's Office requested 39 years and nine months in prison, have accepted five years in prison as a result of the agreement reached by the defendants who have confessed all the facts with the prosecutor.

Ana María Cameno is the only defendant in this trial who is in prison, since she is serving 16 years in prison that the National Court imposed on her in another case, for the distribution of a hundred kilos of cocaine.

According to police officers who led the investigation, this woman had a cocaine laboratory of dimensions "never seen before" on a farm in Villanueva de Perales (Madrid).

The prosecutor has considered that there have been great undue delays in a case in which the facts were committed more than 12 years ago.

Recovering properties

However, he believes that it is important that with the agreements of the majority of the defendants it has been possible to secure convictions and, above all, the recovery not only of 26 million euros in cash but also buildings, villas, vehicles and other effects that can reach 40 million euros, all of which will go to the national anti-drug plan and, therefore, to a social destination.

Throughout the hearing several national police have recalled that the plot was uncovered by the American Sharon C., then girlfriend of Álvaro López Tardón, with whom he lived in Miami, who in revenge for the mistreatment he received.

Sharon C. revealed that the drug that Ana María Cameno received in Spain from South America was sent to her by Álvaro López Tardón and revealed that he and his brother Artemio hid a large amount of money in their villa on Las Azaleas Avenue, in the Madrid district of Hortaleza, where the Police found 20 million euros in a zulo on the ground, five million in a partition and more than one million in the garage.

Among the defendants who have accepted sentences in exchange for confessing all the facts are those considered leaders of the various branches of the organization.

Specifically, the brothers Raúl and Víctor Juárez Smith, three years and two months in prison, when they initially faced requests from the Prosecutor's Office of 27 and 30 years, respectively. In his case, the prosecutor has also taken into account the mitigating circumstance of drug addiction.

Likewise, Lauro Sánchez Serrano, four years and six months in prison, when the prosecutor asked at the beginning of the trial for him 33 years and nine months.

  • National Court
  • United States
  • Drug trafficking

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