A FORMER Spanish police chief has claimed there is a ‘systemic practice’ within the force involving the falsification of official documents linked to drug investigations.
Oscar Sanchez Gil, the former head of Spain’s UDEF anti-money laundering unit, is currently under investigation for allegedly collaborating with a criminal organisation accused of smuggling huge quantities of cocaine into Spain.
During a pre-trial hearing, in which Sanchez Gil only agreed to answer questions from his defence lawyer, he described what he claimed was an internal police ‘system’ used to disguise the sources of information.
Testifying via video link from prison, Sanchez Gil said: “Most of the information supposedly communicated by the DEA, the SOCA and the NCA is false. It is fabricated to conceal illicit sources of information or to protect informants.”
When asked how he knew the information had been falsified, he replied that it was a ‘common and systemic practice’ within narcotics and money laundering units, adding: “I have done it as a leader.”
According to Sanchez Gil, the ‘system’ centres on encrypted phone networks used by drug traffickers.
He explained that intelligence agencies have managed to infiltrate platforms such as Anom and Sky ECC, giving authorities access to information on international trafficking networks.
However, Sanchez Gil claimed Spanish police officers often conceal the real source of that intelligence because using hacked communications in court creates legal problems.
As an example, he cited the seizure of 1,600 kg of cocaine in Algeciras in May 2021, an operation in which he was involved.
He claimed the investigation stemmed from information obtained through the hacked Anom encrypted phone system, but that police reports instead attributed the intelligence to Colombia’s anti-narcotics agency, DIRAN.
Sanchez Gil alleges that similar methods were later used against him.
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He claims investigators linked him to drug trafficker Alejandro Salgado, known as ‘El Tigre’, using messages obtained from the hacked Sky ECC platform, while concealing the true source of the information in official documents.
According to Sanchez Gil, if the encrypted conversations are submitted and fully examined during proceedings, they could reveal ‘a completely different police corruption plot’.
This plot, he claims, involves officers from Madrid’s police force, the anti-narcotics and organised crime unit (UDYCO), Guardia Civil officers working at the Port of Algeciras and members of Customs Surveillance.
With his testimony, Sanchez Gil suggests that if the encrypted communications are handed over to the court, other police officers could also be implicated in a wider narco-corruption plot.
Sanchez Gil was arrested in November 2024 after officers discovered €20 million concealed in walls, ceilings and cupboards at his property in Alcala de Henares, near Madrid.
Investigators say Sanchez Gil granted safe passage for 39 maritime containers packed with cocaine through Spanish ports, in return he allegedly received more than €32 million in bribes.
Sanchez Gil has not accounted for the €20 million found in his home and has vehemently defended his innocence pleading not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
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