The Audiencia Nacional on 23 September 2026 found the Galician drug trafficker José Ramón Prado Bugallo, known as Sito Miñancoguilty of organising the import of almost four tonnes of cocaine in 2017. The court imposed a total prison sentence of 17 years: 12 years for an offence against public health and five years for money laundering as part of a criminal organisation. The chamber also imposed heavy fines and ordered measures to secure and confiscate assets.
In the same judgment, lawyer Gonzalo Boye, who represented, among others, Carles Puigdemont , was acquitted of money laundering and document forgery. According to the judges, the evidence was insufficient to prove that Boye or other defendants had been involved in drawing up private bills of exchange or forged documents used to justify the origin of cash seized in 2017 at Madrid-Barajas . The Public Prosecutor’s Office had previously sought prison sentences for Boye.
The case is part of Operación Mito, a long-running investigation into a smuggling ring linked to Sito Miñanco. In its judgment, the chamber distinguishes the criminal responsibility of the alleged organisers of the cocaine imports from that of their legal advisers. The court was satisfied that Miñanco had been involved in organising the imports, but found insufficient evidence that the lawyers on trial had participated in criminal activity.
Appeals against the judgment are possible. The deadlines for appeals by the prosecution and defence will begin once the written reasoning has been served. Until the judgment is final, acquitted defendants are presumed innocent and those convicted are subject to the measures set out in the judgment.
The case has attracted considerable attention in Spain over the years because it concerns the operational logistics of large-scale cocaine imports, money-laundering mechanisms and the distinction between legal practice and criminal involvement. The judgment now brings key charges in Operación Mito to an important conclusion, but possible appeals mean that a final assessment remains open.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).