On Friday, the District Court in Gliwice sentenced six men accused of participating in a criminal group, which, according to the findings of the investigation, smuggled several dozen kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Poland. He imposed them from 4 years and 3 months to 8 and a half years in prison. The verdict is unlawful.
As the chairwoman of the adjudicating panel Anna Förster-Weissensteiner said, the existence of an organized criminal group smuggling cocaine from Colombia to Poland does not raise any doubts. All the accused were found guilty of all acts alleged to them – participation in a gang and smuggling intoxicants. The most severe total penalty was imposed on Daniel F., who supervised the remaining five accused, acting as couriers. According to the court, he was responsible for smuggling at least 37 kg of cocaine.
The National Prosecutor's Office demands punishment for them from 4 to 11 years in prison. Defense applied for acquittal or milder penalties. In the case of some of the accused, the court ruled a slightly lower severe dimension of penalties than the prosecutor demanded.
For participation in an organized criminal group, the court imposed individual penalties from 7 months to a year and 4 months imprisonment, and for drug smuggling – from 4 to 7 years and 10 months. The court imposed the following total penalties: Grzegorz C. 5 years in prison, Dariusz P. 5.5 years, Marian K. and Marian L. for 4 years and 3 months, Daniel F. 8.5 years and Sławomir G. 4 years. The court also sentenced the accused to fines and obliged them to pay several thousand zlotys to the victims' assistance fund and post -trade assistance.
Judge Förster-WeisSensteiner reminded in the oral justification of the judgment that the indictment did not embrace the leaders of the group-the brothers K. in front of the Gliwice court answered five couriers, who were recruited among the homeless, unemployed, with various addictions, as well as a man who guarded them during transport. Passports were made for future couriers, airline tickets were bought and a hotel and food in Colombia were paid.
“If someone is asked to transport something from abroad, if someone has a passport, if this person contacts with established people, and then fly abroad with other people who also have such a role to bring something somewhere, takes the luggage in these people, they are forbidden to do anything with these luggage, and then these people have to be aware of these luggage Organization, the fact that he participates in something, “said the judge, justifying the recognition of the accused guilty of participating in the criminal group.
The stories of some accused who claimed that they were to transport watches or medicines, the court found unconfirmed and contrary to the logic and principles of life experience. The court does not know any company that produces watches in Colombia sent to other countries of the world, if they were to be fakes, they are rather transported from Turkey – said the judge. She also pointed out that the ticket to Colombia cost 2.5 thousand. euro and these costs had to be reimbursed to the group's bosses. “It is difficult to assume that someone is going to Colombia to bring a watch or cancer medicine from there,” judge Förster-WeisSensteiner.
Daniel F. described the act of sentenced to the most severe punishment as “perfidious” – he knew that the recruited couriers were exposed to the risk of stopping and a long -term prison. He flew to Colombia with them, but he never transported any drugs.
There was no prosecutor at the announcement of the sentence, he was not accused who were arrested. Only the defender Daniel F. Jakub Janik was present. He told journalists that he was going to appeal. He pointed out that the prosecutor's office accused his client in the indictment that he had brought 75 kg of drugs to Poland, but the court assumed that it was 37 kg. “The court partly took into account the arguments of the defense in this respect, while this judgment is undoubtedly harsh,” added the lawyer. In his opinion, other defenders will also consider making an appeal.
The first arrests in this matter occurred at the beginning of February last year, when one of the officers of the Customs and Tax Service at the International Airport in Pyrzowice selected a registered luggage for control, which came from Frankfurt. During the inspection, it turned out that there were four hermetically closed cocaine bags in the suitcase.
The police determined that drugs come from Colombia, and the next metastasis is to take place in the following days. They selected two men for inspection, who were soon to fly to Poland. During the inspection of luggage belonging to two Slovak citizens aged 19 and 32, uniform found the same hermetically closed sacks in which there was cocaine. In total, the police secured a dozen or so kilos of this drug.
However, this was only the beginning of the investigation. More suspects were soon detained in this matter. On May 18, 2024, at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, the uniform detained a 37-year-old man and his 48-year-old travel companion who arrived from Colombia. In their luggage, the uniform secured another kilograms of cocaine. At the same time, a second group of policemen worked in one of the towns in Podwiadchów. The uniforms entered one of the selected houses, where they detained a 55-year-old woman. According to the police, a dozen or so people were detained to the case.
The smuggling organizers were three brothers K., two of them were detained. One of them is in Poland and responds in a separate investigation, the other was detained in England, the third is still wanted. (PAP)
Kon/ Mark/
