TSJC Confirms 4.5-Year Drug Sentence, Police Testimony Crucial

The Canary Islands High Court (TSJC) has confirmed a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for a person convicted of a drug-related crime, after rejecting his appeal. The court's decision, which upholds the original conviction by the Provincial Court, emphasizes that police testimony is crucial evidence in such cases – a significant aspect of Spanish law regarding drug dealing.

The sentence confirmed by the TSJC mainly relies on what the officers involved in the arrest and seizure said. They testified that the accused was alone when arrested and never claimed the drugs were for his own use or to share with others. The TSJC, following the Supreme Court's guidelines, fully trusts these testimonies, especially since the officers are not victims or directly involved in the incident themselves, which distinguishes their role as witnesses in a criminal trial.

Court documents show the man was arrested in the early hours of April 19, 2023, on an avenue in Playa de Las Américas, Arona. He was found with various drugs and a large sum of money. When he was stopped, police seized eight packets with three grams of MDMA (83% pure), two bags with half a gram of ketamine (86% pure), and thirty-two doses containing eight grams of cocaine (81% pure). He also had 646 euros and 30 British pounds on him.

His defense argued in the appeal to the TSJC that the drugs were for his own use and to share with two friends, and tried to prove he was a regular user with a hair analysis report. However, the court rejected this argument, saying that the original judgment followed all legal reasoning standards. This was because it included a detailed look at the evidence and a logical explanation for the facts it found to be true. Besides the prison sentence, he must also pay a 3,000 euro fine.