"I want Balas dead": the policeman who has become the PSOE's toothache

Barcelona"Antonio Balas: dangerous". This is one of the various annotations found in the agendas seized from Leire Díez, the main suspect in the latest judicial case affecting the PSOE. It refers to the head of the economic crime department of the Central Operative Unit (UCO), Antonio Balas. He is 52 years old and originally from a town in Badajoz, although this lieutenant colonel forged his career in the Basque Country during the ETA years. "If there is one thing I can say I am a bit of a specialist in, it is the field of criminal investigation," he defined himself in an event in November 2023, three years after taking charge of the UCO's economic crime department with the aim of ending corruption, which he himself defined as "a serious threat [...] to the rule of law and the welfare society".

And he has not wasted any time. Since 2020, the department has carried out various investigations that have made the most sensational headlines. Among them, and with particular impact on the PSOE, is the Koldo case, which directly affects former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos; the investigation into SEPI contracts; the case of Attorney General García Ortiz; the case of Begoña Gómez, wife of President Pedro Sánchez, and the case of the President's brother, David Sánchez. In fact, last Wednesday he testified at the trial of Pedro Sánchez's brother, who, when asked by lawyers if he had not found more evidence, ironically replied: "Oh, you think that's not enough?" His investigations into the PSOE turned him, according to the UCO, into one of the main targets for Díez and her network in defense of the socialists.

"That guy does whatever he damn well pleases," said Civil Guard Captain Juan Sánchez Yepes about Balas in a meeting with Díez, which is included in the judicial summary: "And he will probably be the next head of the UCO." Since that meeting, in December 2024, Balas became practically an obsession for Díez. "I need Balas [...] What do we know about Balas? Tell us something about Balas." In one of the conversations, Díez even figuratively stated: "I want Balas dead".

Before reaching relevance, he had already participated in criminal investigations related to both the PP and the PSOE. For example, Operation Púnica, against the number two of the former Madrid president Esperanza Aguirre, or the Lezo, Erial cases and the ERO fraud in Andalusia. All this in a career full of lights, which earned him several decorations, but also shadows: in the investigation of the Montoro case, the prosecutor, Carmen García Cerdá, complained in August 2025 about the deliberate passivity of the UCO, where agents under Balas's tutelage refused to cooperate without explanation or apparent reason, which contrasted with the proactive behavior of the Tax Agency and the Mossos. "He doesn't want to do anything," the prosecutor sentenced.