Two men arrested in Figueres for an alleged crime against public health have been released without bail after spending nearly two months in pre-trial detention. The expert analysis of the seized substance concluded that it was not methamphetamine, but paracetamol and caffeine.
The incident dates back to the afternoon of January 18 in Nou de Figueres street, when a Mossos d'Esquadra patrol observed a car parked on a pedestrian crossing. According to the prison order issued the following day, the officers saw an exchange between a man standing next to the driver's window and one of the vehicle's occupants.
The police interpreted that one of the suspects was handing a bag to another in exchange for cash. During the search, they located money and a brown powdery substance inside the bag. The seized material had a gross weight of 177.16 grams.
Entry into prison for an alleged aggravated crime
Already at the police station, the Mossos applied a chemical reagent to the substance and the result was positive for methamphetamine. With that first result, the court agreed on January 19 to the provisional imprisonment of the two arrested individuals for an alleged crime against public health aggravated in the modality of notorious importance.
The judicial resolution set for the substance a value of 6,420.30 euros on the black market and pointed to a possible sentence of between 6 and 9 years in prison. The aggravation was situated at the threshold that the Supreme Court establishes for methamphetamine, considering of notorious importance the quantities that exceed 30 grams.
The expert analysis ruled out that it was a drug
The Mossos sent a sample to the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences for its analysis. The expert report, issued on February 27, concluded that the seized substance was actually paracetamol and caffeine.
After receiving that result, seat 5 of the civil and instruction section of the court of first instance of Figueres issued on March 17 a new resolution agreeing to the release of the detainees.
"In view of the content of the expert report issued by the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences which states that the seized substance contains paracetamol and caffeine, it is appropriate to agree to immediate freedom without bail" - square 5 of the civil and investigative section of the court of first instance of Figueres
The decision left without effect the precautionary measure adopted two months earlier. The two men were released after the laboratory analysis ruled out that the seized substance was a toxic drug.