Robert Mark Benson was not out of place in Puerto Banús. 64 well-cared years, good looks, tanned complexion, expensive clothes, a sailing company. An English dandy for many, a posh sailor overtones for others. Regular trips between Sotogrande, the paradise in San Roque where he lived, and the Costa del Sol, even to Mallorca or Ibiza, where the beautiful people of a nautical business where he swam with the indignant elegance of a shark.
But behind the kind and nice guy, discreet, with refined tastes and little lover of ostentation, was hiding one of the most prolific drug traffickers in the most prolific drug trafficking area, capable not only of recruiting good sailors but of adding for the cause a group of investors willing to multiply their money B as if it were the miracle of the loaves and fishes. A perfect business hidden under the cover of the purchase and sale of sailboats that has exploded due to the investigation of the National Police and the Tax Agency with the collaboration of British agencies.
“What is important in this case is that this same subject, who had this logistics network and this troop and this sailor that was the one that made the transfers, also had excellent contacts in the whole issue of economic investments. He had a very well-rounded profile, a very low profile in all of Cadiz society, especially in the Sotogrande area, which earned him the trust of other people, and in this case he was able to find this type of investment to be able to buy drug and then bring it here. It was, somehow, a perfect combination between what logistics is and what investment is in this case”, explained the commissioner Marcos Frías.
The police chief explained that this operation has given them a detail that does not lose importance because it is known, such as “the deep relationship between two areas heavily involved in drug trafficking: the Campo de Gibraltar and the Costa del Sol. operation there is a constant transfer of money, merchandise, personnel and logistics, between both areas. It does not come as a surprise, but in this case it is very clear, as we have been able to prove to the investigating judge, the operation of this type of joint venture in which everything that comes and goes is related to drug trafficking," said Frías.
For the Police, the moment that marks the turn of the screw that ends up signaling his fate to Robert's network is his commitment to cocaine. “When they switch to cocaine it is November 2020, after intercepting another vessel from this network with 1,000 kilos of hashish. It strikes us that this is when they switch to cocaine. They turn the business around and dedicate themselves to looking for another product that is more interesting for them when it comes to making the losses caused by these frustrated shipments compatible. That is when they move to the Caribbean and on June 13 is when we stormed the ship off the Azores and took the 1,000 kilos of coca”.
The Police emphasize that "without a doubt the main axis of the entire organization is the British, an old acquaintance, who had the double ability to attract crew members but also to travel to Costa del Sol to attract the two investors who put the money. These two were already being previously investigated by the Police, especially in tax and tax matters. As a result of the confidence that this man gives them, it is when they decide to bet on something stronger. They possibly put money into B with the intention of getting it back with a nice profit.”
Lastly, the Police consider that the organization planned to bring the Windwhisper to the coast of Cadiz to later transfer the drug to land through small motorboats that were distributing the cargo. A Caribbean treasure dreamed of by pirates that did not reach its destination.
