Yzabelle Bostyn
‘THE LAST cocaine queen’ has been sentenced to five years in prison by Malaga Provincial Court.
Maria Teresa J.C., known as ‘The Model’ was found guilty of crimes against public health and belonging to an organised crime group.
The indisputable sentence follows a lengthy trial including one of the lawyers involved becoming ill.
Lawyers from the prosecution called for a ten year sentence, given the ‘huge scale’ of the criminal gang’s operation.
They also pushed for between five and eight years in prison for the other suspects which included Danes, Spaniards, Poles, Germans and French.
The gang operated from Marbella, sending drugs to northern and Eastern Europe.
During the trial, the ‘Queen of Coke’ recognised her culpability, according to El Mundo.
Also known as ‘The Model’, the woman was born in Colombia in 1973 and had a taste for luxury, but no demonstrated employment, leading to suspicion.
It is believed she was a key negotiator between European cocaine traffickers.
She was reportedly pursued by authorities for years before she was finally detained.
Her residence was a luxury chalet in Marbella registered to a Panamanian offshore account.
It was worth €1.1 million euros and had various swimming pools and a 3,000 m2 garden.
Maria’s ex-husband was arrested in 2005 during an operation in which 6,100kg of cocaine were seized.
Her last partner was also slapped with a ten year drug trafficking sentence in Denmark.
Led by an Organised Crime taskforce, the investigation into ‘The Model’ began in 2020.
By January 2022, investigators had discovered drug transportation methods and concluded they had enough evidence to detain the ‘Queen of Coke’.
In her Valdeolletas home, investigators found twelve packages of cannabis-hashish resin alongside a Rolls Royce branded package of cocaine.
It weighed 977.20 grams, had a purity of 80.92 per cent and a black market value of 103,086 euros.
