DOWNFALL: How DMAX TV cop became a drugs smuggler in Spain

A SPANISH ‘star’ of the Discovery Max ‘Border Control’ (Control de Fronteras) programme has turned out to have been working for the wrong side of the law all along. 

Corporal Fran of the Guardia Civil, has had a long career, a highlight of which was his appearances on the DMAX Spanish language border control program. In this he was one of the officers who fought against the entry of illegal goods into Spain. 

He is now suffering a career lowlight, as he has swapped the TV screen for a jail cell where he languishes accused of helping smuggle more than 200 kilos of cocaine through Madrid-Barajas airport, where he was stationed. 

The corporal was the link between two organised gangs of drug traffickers tracked down by agents of the Guardia Civil’s Internal Affairs Service and the Madrid Command’s Organised Crime and Anti-Drug Team. 
After nearly a year and a half of investigation, the agents have dismantled the two organisations, arrested 18 people and found evidence against Fran, as reported by El Independiente news outlet. 
What was not initially known was the television role of the guard, nor how the first news about him arrived: it was the American DEA and the English NCA who alerted Spanish authorities, with a picture of the program as a sample, that there was an agent who could be the contact of several drug gangs in Madrid. 

A highly complex investigation was launched made difficult because the guard knew perfectly the methods of his colleagues and took all possible precautions to avoid them. 
He even went so far as to teach the drug traffickers what security measures to take in order to avoid being investigated, which is why he is also accused of obstruction of justice, as well as drug trafficking. 

Measures he took included the use of bug detection gear as well as a frequency inhibitor that he activated whenever he had an important meeting. 
The methods used to smuggle drugs revolved around his post as head of duty in the airport’s Fiscal Service. This allowed him to let certain suitcases and passengers pass. He even escorted fellow criminals and their suitcases to the exit to make sure other officers did not stop them. 

Investigators suspect there were at least five deliveries of suitcases from ‘hot’ flights that contained more than 200 kilos of cocaine of great purity. The drugs were later seized by police. 

Fran lived a life that seemed out of keeping with his monthly salary of €1,700 as a Guardia Civil. He only shopped in Madrid’s Golden Mile, favouring designer brands like Gucci and Valentino. 
He refurbished a Chevrolet Camaro (€30,000 of tuning) and painted it orange.  He used the car to go to the VIP events of Madrid casinos  Torrelodones and la Castellana, where only ‘very special’ clients are invited. He ate out in the most expensive restaurants. 

After years of service, his downfall came when he left his wife for a Colombian woman, who introduced him to her friends including several ‘narcos’. They made him an offer which he found irresistible.