Laurence Dollimore
A SPANISH police officer who gambled thousands of euros of seized narco cash has avoided being kicked off the force.
The Guardia Civil officer took €9,000 from a drugs raid before embarking on an eight-hour session at a local casino in Alicante, near Benidorm.
However the agent had an unlucky day and lost all of the money on the roulette table, reports local newspaper La Informacion.
The cash had been seized in the summer of 2020 during an anti-drug operation in Molina de Segura, Murcia, in southern Spain.
During a search in the early hours, the officer in question found 12 bags of marijuana and €9,000 in small bills in the back of a truck.
The evidence remained in his custody and he was due to deliver it to a judge later that day.
However at the crack of dawn, he decided to take the money to a gambling hall in Alicante.
He spent more than eight hours attempting to ‘enrich’ himself but lost it all, thanks mostly to the high-risk roulette table.
Immediately after the session, he handed over the confiscated drugs to his colleagues but failed to deliver the cash.
He was immediately reported and arrested on suspicion of embezzling public funds.
Prosecutors were seeking one year and 11 months in jail but both parties agreed to a deal of five months behind bars and a 10-month ban from the force.
It means he can re-join the police once his suspension is over.
The courts took into consideration that he had returned the money before sentencing and that he had suffered a loss of control due to his gambling addiction.
