Amid other changes at the top – such as the departure of its maverick advisor, David Martínez Guzmán – Banc Sabadell has also replaced the head of its Mexican subsidiary. In the business sector, Pimec has added a new member to its board of directors, while Barcelona has secured a seat on the World Trade Centers International Association for its office complex located in the Port of Barcelona. These are the main appointments this week:

The Barcelona Court has acquitted the two Mossos d'Esquadra officers accused of collaborating with a drug trafficking plot The prosecution had requested 18 years and 9 months in prison for the two officers for planting drugs and weapons in the car of a dockworker at the port of Barcelona, ​​Carlos L. However, the court acquitted them because it did not consider it sufficiently proven that they participated in planting the drugs. Furthermore, the court annulled the wiretaps, finding that there was insufficient evidence to justify such measures and that the suspicions regarding their involvement in the scheme had weak supporting evidence. The Fifth Section of the Barcelona Provincial Court, as reported by EFE, also acquitted the other two defendants in the trial held in November: a former Desokupa employee and martial arts instructor, and his nephew, both mechanics. According to the prosecution's theory, both officers were the ones who planted the drugs and weapons in the dockworker's vehicle in June 2016. However, the two officers provided information about Carlos L. after consulting the Mossos d'Esquadra database. The officers, a corporal with over three decades of experience and a former port police officer, had been suspended without pay for four years, but were now back on active duty. The mastermind of the plot

According to the document, both officers, who faced four charges – drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons, unlawful detention, and disclosure of secrets – bear "no responsibility" in the plot orchestrated against Carlos L., who during the trial He explained that behind this maneuver was David Caballero, the dockworker known as Bubito, who was murdered in November 2014 in Montgat, in the Maresme region, in a drug-related revenge killing. Carlos L. defended the theory that he was a "drug lord" who controlled the port and that he devised the plan against him because he had previously refused to work for him. The prosecutor maintained at the trial that, in accordance with a "preconceived plan," the two Mossos d'Esquadra officers—who were then assigned to the Sant Martí police station in Barcelona—provided "essential" information that they obtained on the afternoon of March 18, 2016, by consulting databases. Based on this information, according to the prosecution, the other two defendants surveilled Carlos L. to learn his routines, until June 15, 2016, when they carried out the operation to plant the drugs and weapons, taking advantage of the fact that he had parked his car in front of a gym in Barcelona. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) suspected that the whole thing was a planned operation. On the day of Carlos L.'s arrest, a man who identified himself as Alberto called the Sant Martí police station and asked to speak with an officer named "Trini," a policeman known for having informants. Alberto reported that there was a car, a Volkswagen Golf, with drugs and weapons inside in the Francesc Macià area. This call, which was not the usual way informants contacted the officer, and the fact that they referred to him by his first name, raised suspicions within the Catalan police force.

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"No." This has been the most repeated response from the two Mossos d'Esquadra officers – an agent and a corporal from the Sant Martí police station. who sit in the dock of the Barcelona Court for planting drugs and weapons in the car of Carlos L., a dockworker at the port of Barcelona, ​​with the aim of framing him in 2016. The trial is nearing its end, and this Wednesday it was the turn of the defendants to testify: both officers and two mechanics. All four defendants denied any involvement in the events, answering only questions from their lawyers. They denied knowing Carlos L. and having nothing against him. In fact, during his testimony, the dockworker also stated that he did not know the four defendants, but affirmed that the person who wanted to frame him was David Caballero, known as Bubito, a former port worker. who was murdered a year ago in Montgat due to a drug-related conflict that is still under investigation. However, the prosecution considers the four defendants to be the perpetrators and has maintained its request for 18 years and nine months in prison for the Mossos d'Esquadra officers and 14 years for the mechanics. The psychiatrist treating the dockworker also testified at the trial and admitted that while he initially did not believe the conspiracy against Carlos L., after reviewing the case documentation, he realized that his account "was coherent." The specialist stated that the victim suffers from extreme anxiety and distress that began after he was high. He added that the victim "fears for his life at all times," believes he is being electronically spied on, followed, watched, and harassed, and has even cut off contact with his closest circle.

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"It was one of the most difficult moments of my career." A Mossos d'Esquadra officer from the Sant Martí police station admitted the difficulty of investigating two of his colleagues, for whom he had "affection and fondness." He said this during a new session of the trial against two Mossos officers—an agent and a corporal from the same station—and two mechanics for planting drugs and weapons in the car of a dockworker, Carlos L., with the aim of framing him. The name of the Mossos investigator who testified He had left several times during the trial.But to date, he has not been able to explain his version of events in the Barcelona Provincial Court. He was, to a large extent, the first to suspect that the drugs found in a car had been set up. According to the prosecution's account, after planting the drugs, one of the two mechanics called the Sant Martí police station's emergency number. He said his name was Alberto and that he was an informant for someone named Trini, an officer at the station known for having sources in the drug trade. This call served to report that there were drugs in a car, and the police operation was launched, leading them to the scene: the entrance of a gym near Plaça Francesc Macià in Barcelona. The drugs were found there, and Carlos L. was arrested.

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Pep and GodzillaThese were the nicknames of two Mossos d'Esquadra officers assigned to the Sant Martí police station. It was 2015 when a police informant claimed that these officers—whose names he didn't know, only their nicknames—were collaborating with a criminal organization to carry out drug heists, also known as narco-robberies. rolloversto other gangs. The informant added that those involved also included an ARRO agent from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and a former soldier. At the time this information came to light, the investigation into these drug-related robberies was well advanced. In fact, it was awaiting trial. However, although they monitored the ARRO agent and the former soldier because their names had appeared in a phone conversation, they never actually investigated them. Godzilla and Pep

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"It's hard to stay away from drug lords; they still have a lot of influence. Some people join out of fear. They're untouchable. They wanted me to work for them, and I refused." Port of Barcelona stevedore Carlos L. testified Tuesday in court that he lives as a victim: four men, two of them Mossos d'Esquadra officers, They sit in the dock for having put drugs and weapons in their car. in 2016 and trying to implicate him in a crime. The events are being tried in a small courtroom at the Barcelona Court, and Carlos L. spoke less than a meter from the four defendants. "No, I didn't know them," he stated as he reviewed the four men one by one. One of them also responded by shaking his head.

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Almost 70 tons in 25 years. This is the amount of cocaine that Customs Surveillance has seized at the port of Barcelona since 2000. In the last two and a half years, from 2023 to August 2025, 56% of this drug has been seized—almost 39 of the 70 tons—according to transparency data. This increase is a consequence of greater police efficiency, but above all because the port of Barcelona has become a one of the five ports of Europe with increased international drug trafficking activity, especially due to shipments originating from Guayaquil, Ecuador, and because mafias are already established in Catalonia.

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"The freedom of everyone who has any dealings with these people is possibly in danger." This article appeared years ago in The Toads of the PortFirst, it was a website and then a blog in which an anonymous person reported that some dockworkers at the port of Barcelona were, at the same time, informers and drug traffickers who were tipping off the police about a drug shipment that was about to arrive so they could arrest him and a rival drug trafficker, so they could continue with the shipment. One of the most repeated names on this blog is David Caballero, known as Bubito. It was rumored that he was one of the leaders of the white powder scandal at the port, but on this page they directly accused him of being one and collaborating with the police.

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Total freight traffic entering and leaving the Port of Barcelona from January to August fell by 1.7% to 46,852,382 tons, compared to the same period last year. Container traffic, which includes empty, full, and in-traffic containers, also decreased. A total of 2,527,662 were moved through August, 5.2% less than in the first eight months of 2024.

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