The Provincial Court has sentenced the seven people who were involved in drug smuggling in April 2010 to a total of 43 years imprisonment between them. They had attempted to introduce 720 kilos of cocaine in a large lorry which had participated in the Dakar Rally, which had taken place in Argentina that year. The lorry was searched when the ferry docked at Bilbao and the occupants taken into custody, but further arrests were made in Barcelona and Ibiza, where the drugs were due to be distributed. The ring leader, identified in court by the initials TMBT, was sentenced to over eight years in jail, as well as
a fine of 150 million euros for drug trafficking and being in possession of forged documents. The other members of the gang were given between three and six years "at His Majesty"s pleasure", with fines of 6
5 million euros each.
According to police investigations, the lorry was the official support vehicle for rally drivers and was painted with the logos of their sponsors, but had been prepared with up to 32 hidden compartments to hold the drugs. The two people detained in Ibiza were the mechanics who had worked on the lorry before it was sent to Argentina, first lining the compartments with lead, before adding a second layer of material and then wood, which resembled the laminated flooring of the vehicle.
The authorities had been on the track of these smugglers for more than a year, after realizing that the ring leader, TMBT, was responsible for the distribution of cocaine and other illegal substances in Ibiza. When he was apprehended in 2010 in Barcelona, 4 kilos of ecstasy pills were also found at his property, ready to be distributed on the streets.