Top drugs cop jailed for hashish plot in Malaga

THE man who once led the fight against organised crime and the battle to stop drug gangs flooding the streets with narcotics, has been jailed for a plot to land hashish on a Marbella beach.

The trial of Valentin Fernandez hit the headlines across Europe when he stood before the jury accused of colluding with Moroccan and French drugs gangs.

Evidence of corruption at the highest levels of the Guardia Civil hit the organisation’s reputation hard and massively dented the public’s confidence.

Lieutenant Fernandez is the former head of EDOA, the organised crime and anti-drug team, for the Costa del Sol.

He was brought down, after years spent fighting drugs gangs and commendations for his actions, by a grubby plot to bring two tonnes of hashish ashore at La Araña. 

Along with more than 30 others, including a former Malaga football player, he was eventually sentenced to 18 years in jail.

He was convicted of conspiring to land the drugs, money laundering and also for passing on information that was crucial to the drugs gangs in their attempts to evade detection.

Jurors were given a report, nearly 300 pages in length, which detailed the ring of corruption surrounding Fernandez.