Madrid
Prison for 11 of the 13 police arrested in Coslada
By h.b.
May 13, 2008 - 7:22 AM

The judge investigating the allegations of widespread local police corruption in the Madrid town of Coslada, María de las Nieves Martínez, has ordered prison without bail for 11 of the 13 arrested in the so-called ‘Operación Bloque’. Among those sent to jail is the local police chief, known by many in the town as the Sherriff, Ginés Jiménez, who, like the other policeman has claimed his innocence.

One policeman did confess to the judge that he kept 7,000 € from a 35,000 haul that some thieves had taken from a supermarket, and another admitted relations with a prostitute in a police patrol car, adding that it was just ‘an occasional thing’.

All 11 have been transferred to the Alcalá-Meco jail in the capital. The judge considered that prison was necessary given the social alarm generated by the case, and by the chance that evidence could be altered. The judge has now handed the case to another magistrate, Eduardo Cruz Torres, who will now continue the investigations into the corruption allegations.
Two police were granted bail at 6,000 and 12,000 €.