Reform sought in wake of drugs robbery

"They warned us that we were going to be robbed. There is a permanent transit of people at that storage in Cádiz. But now everyone is ducking to avoid responsibilities."

As implausible as it may sound, the police had been aware for months that the seized drug shipment ran the risk of disappearing from under their noses, internal sources confirm. But a lack of means prevented a timely reaction, and late last month 290 kilograms of cocaine and hashish disappeared from the Cádiz warehouse where it was being stored. The thieves had the key to the place and simply walked in, taking the goods back onto market in a clean operation.

It is a cyclical problem. Andalusia and Galicia, traditional entry points for cocaine and hashish, are saturated with seized shipments that attract the attention of thieves; the drug also poses a health problem and can even represent a temptation for police officers with small salaries. Valencia, Santiago, Málaga, Seville, Cádiz... the list of cities that have suffered similar thefts keeps growing. Is there a solution?

Following the case in Cádiz, the government has now signed a protocol with the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), the Medicine Agency and the Attorney General's Office to ensure that seized drugs are destroyed within two months. But this is no more than a recommendation, as the final decision falls to the corresponding judge. Each case is different, and judges often have to consider subsequent claims by lawyers, which means they refuse to let the goods be destroyed and instead they sit for years inside warehouses.

Andalusia and Galicia, traditional entry points for cocaine and hashish, are saturated with seized shipments that attract the attention of thieves

Experts say this protocol is useless and seek a legal reform forcing judges to have drugs burned. "Except in the case of a well-reasoned order, a legal reform should be enforced," says María José Segarra, chief attorney of Seville, where 154 kilograms of heroin and cocaine vanished from police headquarters in 2009.

The government will not reveal any plans, but CGPJ sources said that a reform could be ready by early 2013. "The protocol aims to ensure that the custody chain is identified with photographic reports. We want to know who transferred what at which moment," says Manuel Almenar, a member of the CGPJ. This legal oversight body wants to put pressure on judges to destroy seized shipments after being petitioned by the attorney's office, the police and the Civil Guard.

The thousands of kilograms of drug taking up storage space are a tremendous headache for everyone in the vicinity - sometimes literally. "The marijuana plants emit a very intense smell when they are fresh [...] sometimes the smell invades the entire building, where there are other activities and interaction with the public," complained Seville's director of health last April in a report.

For now, the threat of new thefts is still there, even as antidrug agents continue to request the installation of a furnace in Andalusia that would prevent expensive transfers all the way north to Asturias. "Turning 400 kilograms into 400 grams is very easy," said one source. "But you need to bother to make official reports and conduct counter-analyses."