Laureano Oubiña

Laureano Oubiña Piñeiro (born 1946), also known as El Pajarito (The Birdie),[1] is a Spanish smuggler and drug trafficker.

Laureano Oubiña
Laureano Oubiña presenting his book, "Oubiña, toda la verdad"
Born30 March 1946  (age 74)
A Modia 
OccupationSmuggler, drug trafficker 
Spouse(s)Esther Lago García, Rosa María Otero 

Personal life

Born in Cambados, Piñero began working in his parents' grocery store at the age of 10, and by 15 was distributing products by van to street hawkers. He began his criminal career at the age of 17, at first participating in diesel smuggling with his uncle, and a few months later founding his own black market tobacco company.[2]

He married Rosa María Otero at the age of 18, and went on to have eight children with her; however, they divorced in 1983. After the divorce, he began a relationship with Esther Lago, who had been his secretary, and had an additional three children with her.[3] Lago died in a traffic accident on 28 February 2001.[4]

Arrests and prosecutions

Early criminal activity

Piñero's judicial record dates back to 1978, when he was sentenced to nine months in prison for bribery. A few years later, in 1983, he was arrested in Playa de Aro after the discovery of a large cargo of smuggled tobacco. Police searched a number of his companies and his personal residence, the Pazo Baión, on the 6th July 1989, where sophisticated telecommunications equipment and a rifle were discovered; less than a year later, on 23 April 1990, he was acquitted on charges of smuggling and illegal possession of firearms, but sentenced to four months for resisting the authorities. However, as he had served more than the sentenced time awaiting trial, he did not go to prison.[1]

Operation Crab

On 12 June 1990, he and Esther Lago were both arrested near the Ría de Arosa after an order by Baltasar Garzón during Operación Nécora (Operation Crab), a Spanish police operation against drug traffickers in Galicia.[5] They were both sentenced on 27 September 1994 to 12 years in jail and a fine of 1,280,000,000 pesetas each for money laundering, being acquitted once again of charges of drug trafficking. On 7 December of the same year Piñero was released on parole,[1] while Esther Lago did not leave prison until 1997.[6]

Operations Sunrise and Sunset

On 21 June 1997, a truck carrying 5,741 kilograms of hashish from Galicia to the Netherlands was discovered in Martorell.[1] Oubiña was implicated in the smuggling, and was subsequently arrested in another raid known as Operación Amanecer (Operation Sunrise).[7] He was held in prison awaiting trial[8] until December 1998, when he posted a bail of 15 million pesetas.[9] In October 1999 Esther Lago and David Pérez Lago, Esther's son with her previous husband, were detained in another police operation, operación Ocaso (Operation Sunset), after 15 tons of hashish were again found on a boat and connected to Oubiña; however, he himself escaped arrest, although a warrant was issued for him.[10][4] His escape was controversial as El País later reported that he had been in a police station to satisfy his bail requirements just hours before fleeing custody.[11]

Trafficking sentence and extradition

Just a few days after the culmination of Operation Sunset in October 1999, Oubiña was for the first time sentenced for drug trafficking by the Audiencia Nacional, the Spanish high court. He was sentenced in his absence to four years and four months in prison, along with a fine of 2,400,000,000 pesetas, and an international arrest warrant was simultaneously authorised for his capture. His lawyer was also sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 1,400,000,000 pesetas.[12]

Oubiña was detained along with his stepson David Pérez Lago in Greece in 2000, pursuant to an international arrest warrant issued against him after escaping custody during Operation Sunset.[13] By the autumn of 2000, he had started serving his prison sentence, when his spouse died suddenly in a traffic accident. He was given permission by the Audiencia Nacional to attend her funeral and burial.[4]

In 2011, while in prison in Dueñas, the Audiencia Nacional granted him "grade 3" prisoner status,[14] meaning he could be held in an open prison,[15] and was freed on 17 July 2012.[16] He returned to prison on 6 February 2014 to serve a sentence of 4 years and 7 months which had been imposed upon him in 2012 for money laundering.[17] On 24 February 2017, whilst in prison in Navalcarnero, a judge granted him once again grade 3 prisoner status;[18] however, he left prison on 13 March after a battle with the prison board, who claimed that he should not have been released.[19]

Illegal financing of the People's Alliance

In 2017, during an interview with Cadena SER, Oubiña asserted that he had proof of his illegally financing the People's Alliance political party.[20]

References
  1. "Uno de los 'capos' más destacados del tráfico de hachís en Europa" [One of the most prominent 'bosses' of the European hash trade]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 31 October 2000. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  2. "Laureano Oubiña, el patriarca de los narcos gallegos". ELMUNDO.es. Unidad Editorial Internet, S.L. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  3. "Laureano Oubiña: la vida del 'patriarca' de los narcos gallegos llega a Fariña" [Laureano Oubiña: the life of the 'patriarch' of Spanish drug traffickers arrives on screen in Fariña]. EL MUNDO (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial Información General, S.L.U. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  4. "Oubiña saldrá de la cárcel para acudir al sepelio de su esposa" [Oubiña will leave prison to attend the burial of his spouse]. El Mundo. 28 February 2001. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  5. "El juez Garzón encarcela a los grandes jefes del narcotráfico" [The judge Garzón jails the great bosses of drug trafficking]. El País. 13 June 1990. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  6. "Laureano Oubiña: la vida del 'patriarca' de los narcos gallegos llega a Fariña" [Laureano Oubiña: the life of the 'patriarch' of Galician drug traffickers arrives on screen in Fariña]. EL MUNDO (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial Información General, S.L.U. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  7. Carbajo, Primitivo (8 July 1997). "El presunto capo Laureano Oubiña, apresado en una redada antidroga en Vigo" [The presumed drug kingpin Laureano Oubiña, arrested in an anti-drug raid in Vigo]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  8. "Prisión para Oubiña y tres detenidos en la 'operación Amanecer'" [Prison for Oubiña and three detained in Operation Sunrise]. El País (in Spanish). 11 July 1997. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  9. "La policía busca a Oubiña, mientras su abogado dice que se entregará al juez" [The police search for Oubiña, while his lawyer says he will bring himself to justice]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2020. Oubiña, en paradero desconocido, está en libertad provisional, por otro caso de narcotráfico, desde diciembre del año pasado, cuando salió de prisión tras pagar una fianza de 15 millones de pesetas.
  10. "Incautadas 15 toneladas de droga y detenidas 17 personas en una operación contra el "capo" Oubiña" [15 tons of drugs seized and 17 people detained in a operation against the kingpin Oubiña]. El País (in Spanish). 2 October 1999. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  11. Carbajo, Primitivo (12 October 1999). "Oubiña estuvo en una comisaría horas antes de burlar el cerco policial" [Oubiña was in a police station hours before escaping police custody]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  12. Yoldi, José (4 Oct 1999). "El "capo" Oubiña, condenado por primera vez por narcotráfico" [The kingpin Oubiña, sentenced for the first time for drug trafficking]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  13. Rodríguez, Jorge A. (1 November 2000). "El 'narco' Oubiña aceptará su extradición inmediata desde Grecia, según su abogado" [The 'narco' Oubiña will accept his immediate extradition from Greece, according to his lawyer]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  14. "El narco gallego Laureano Oubiña obtiene el tercer grado" [The Galician 'narco' Laureano Oubiña obtains the third prison grading]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 29 December 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  15. "Regímenes de vida" [Prison life regimes]. Secretaría General de Instituciones Penitenciarias, Ministerio del Interior del Gobierno de España (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  16. "El narcotraficante Laureano Oubiña sale de la cárcel tras cumplir su condena" [The drug trafficker Laureano Oubiña leaves prison after completing his sentence]. RTVE. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  17. "Laureano Oubiña ingresa en la prisión de Alcalá-Meco" [Laureano Oubiña enters the Alcalá-Meco prison]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 7 February 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  18. "Laureano Oubiña, el 'Pablo Escobar' gallego, queda en libertad condicional" [Laureano Oubiña, the Galician Pablo Escobar, released on parole]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  19. Lois, Elisa (13 March 2017). "Laureano Oubiña sale en libertad" [Laureano Oubiña leaves in freedom]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  20. "El 'narco' Laureano Oubiña: "Tengo pruebas de haber financiado ilegalmente a Alianza Popular"" [The 'narco' Laureano Oubiña: "I have proof of having illegally financed the People's Alliance"]. El Plural (in Spanish). 12 July 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
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