Two civil guards sold confiscated weapons to mafias

Investigations then revealed that both “would have been part of a criminal structure dedicated to arms trafficking” taking advantage of their position within the Corps in an allegedly “criminal” manner. It is about Enrique Montilla, former head of the Weapons and Explosives Intervention (IAE) of the Civil Guard of the Malaga command and Manuel Rubiño, former head of the Weapons and Equipment Service of the police of the same city, respectively captain and second lieutenant, both retired at present.

The first was responsible for signing and certify the invalidity or disposal of weapons -had, according to the prosecution, “full capacity” to do so, with “as many weapons as he wanted” and would have taken advantage of his condition “to manipulate the preparation of documents”. While the second was responsible for physically incapacitating them, although according to the investigation, either he did not do it (even if the official documents claimed it), or he rendered them incapacitated in such a way. so that their rehabilitation could shed light once again, the fire was “very simple”.

They would also have had the “connivance” of Alfonso M., owner of a company dedicated to wholesale scrap metal and recycling —Málaga Recycled and Waste— to which the Civil Guard has assigned the weapons to be destroyed. According to the investigation, instead of breaking them into pieces, he put them up for sale in a gun store he also owned.

“These firearms, for which there was no control, were made available elimination of illicit third parties depositaries who, in turn, were responsible for distributing them to different points of the national/international geography”, indicates the Public Prosecutor’s Office in its indictment, to which ABC had access.

In addition to the two senior officers and the owner of the armory, the investigation also highlights two children of the former head of the IAE— the aforementioned Enrique Montilla — and two people with whom he had a “close” relationship. All are also accused of having facilitated “the introduction onto the black market of an unspecified number of firearms in perfect used condition”.

The seven men face 14 years in prison for the offenses of illegal possession of prohibited firearms, storage of war munitions, membership of a criminal group and the offense of falsification of official documents during the trial which opens on Monday next. 25 before the Provincial Court of Malaga.

Ads in a briefcase

It was in 2018 that the Internal Affairs Service (SAI) of the Civil Guard was tasked with investigating the two commanders allegedly involved in a plot dedicated to arms trafficking. And it was in July of the same year that the agents they searched the house from the former head of the IAE, Enrique Montilla.

In the living room they found a blue folder with weapons deactivation certificates, among other documents, in addition to a Walther brand pistol hidden under a sofa bed, for which he himself had signed the disability document 14 years previously, in 2004. In the accounting room, located on the ground floor of At home, Montilla also kept a brown briefcase with lists of weapons and handwritten notes made in the margins: “You can let yourself be guided” or “we have to give you another number”, it could be read.

This is proof, according to prosecutor Pilar Belzunces’ brief, that Montilla chose the weapons to its subsequent sale“according to the possibilities” that each person had to be “legalized”.

There was another notable discovery at the house. The weapon an Estonian citizen used to commit suicide in Torremolinos. A year earlier, several lists seized in Montilla and included in the official report revealed that the pistol in question had been destroyed in 2002 by the demolition company of the also accused Alfonso M.—Reciclados y Residuos Málaga SL—. And the same gun, in turn, was certified by the former head of the IAE as unusable, when the forensics determined that none of its elements presented evidence of this.

Up to 16,000 euros, in 50 euro notes and put in an envelope, SAI agents found during the search of the second civil guard involved, Manuel Rubiño. As well as a pistol, a revolver and a 120-millimeter mortar grenade, previously seized by members of the Explosive Disablement Group (GEDEX) of the Malaga command.

In the police report, also consulted by this newspaper, investigators point out that Rubiño had in his name 295 firearms neutralized, of which 138 were certified by his colleague Montilla. In many cases it has not been possible to determine the origin of these guns and it is suspected that their origin is illegal, as the document states.

To another of the accused, AI, a person linked to the world of arms who maintained “a special friendship” In Montilla, war munitions were also seized. According to reports, 6,000 cartridges from long and short weapons and a silencer were also seized from his home.

The investigations place him as the person who, “being aware of all the activities in which Montilla was immersed, would have accompanied him to carry out administrative procedures. “He is a person of trust and influence “which favored the issuance and renewal of all weapons-related documents,” specifies the prosecutor.

It should be noted that already in 2013, anonymous information collected by the SAI placed him as Captain Montilla’s “straw man”, as part of alleged irregularities committed in another armory.

While at the home of Montilla’s daughter, SM, also an agent of the Civil Guard, although active, the SAI discovered lots of long gun ammo in different rooms of the property, “most of them in good condition and functioning”. In his case, the prosecution accuses him of having, “in the interest of protecting his father”, filed a false complaint in 2016 for an alleged theft of 12 unusable weapons in the house where his father lived. Previously, the Weapons and Explosives Intervention Command of the Malaga Command presented a request for the 25 weapons that were in the name of Captain Montilla’s partner to be presented for physical inspection.

Concerning his other son – who also responds to the initials EM – the Public Prosecutor emphasizes “love of guns” which united him with the rest of the accused and affirms that, during the investigation, “communications were detected which revealed a significant lack of control over the weapons he possessed”, having in his name a rifle hunting which had already been transferred in 2005 to a third. Furthermore, numerous weapons and ammunition in perfect working order were seized from his home.

For the two children, the prosecution also requests 14 years in prison and 7,200 euros finean amount which in the case of her, SM, is doubled when the Public Prosecutor’s Office also attributes the crime of simulation to her, due to the alleged false report.

“Between 600 and 700 euros”

The list of accused is closed by FO, another individual obsessed with weapons who allegedly approached Montilla to buy them. Telephone calls reportedly confirmed that the two had “a close relationship”. In this sense, a conversation is at work in the case where the first asks the second to get him a Astra 9mm pistol of which the former captain comments that it could cost him “between 600 and 700 euros”. It was in 2018.

Likewise, they would refer to the allegations irregular weapons that Montilla presented to the market: “He would be one of those who…hehe…without papers”, said the Civil Guard, according to the transcriptions recorded in the aforementioned report.

For the SAI, all the accused knew each other and “formed a group dedicated to the removal of weapons from the weapons intervention service, where it is assumed that they were intended for scrapping or neutralization , and without control, some of these weapons were removed from their destination. “Finally, illegally, they were fake certificates of disability or scrapping and they were introduced into the black market, spreading at least throughout the national territory, where some of them were found ready to shoot, either because they were never neutralized or scrapped, or because they were rehabilitated after simulated neutralization which was easily reversible.

Among the weapons, in addition to those confiscated from organized crime, there were also those delivered by retired agents, underline the sources consulted.

Montilla was responsible for the IAE of the Malaga Civil Guard command until 2005, while Rubiño held his position until 2013. On Monday, at 77 and 76 years old respectively, he They will sit on the bench for this causecalled Operation Moriles, and considered the cornerstone of other corruption cases that have occurred in recent years on the Costa del Sol. Due to their seniority and the time that has elapsed, the possibility for the accused to claim the statute of limitations or to come to an agreement with the prosecutor. Office on a possible compliance agreement.