The Provincial Court of Palma de Mallorca has ruled in a case of drug trafficking, sentencing a British citizen who tried to introduce narcotics in Ibiza. The First Section of the Provincial Court of Palma de Mallorca issued Sentence No. 319/2025, in which the defendant was sentenced to three years in prison, although this sentence was substituted by his immediate expulsion from the national territory.
The defendant, a British national born in 1991, was found guilty of a crime against public health in the form of substances causing serious damage to health. The sentence was handed down on July 31, 2025 after a hearing for ratification of conformity.
Trying to smuggle drugs through the airport
The proven facts occurred on August 13, 2022. At around 9:00 p.m., upon arrival at Ibiza airport on a Jet2 flight from Manchester, the accused threw a wrapper on the gangway of gate 13, which gives access to the terminal.
The packaging contained a mixture of narcotic substances which, according to the prosecution, the accused had in his possession with the intention of selling them in Ibiza. The price that these substances would have reached on the illicit market was calculated at 776.87 euros.
The substances seized by the authorities (the Civil Guard of Sant Josep de Sa Talaia intervened by virtue of an attestation of 14/8/2022) included:
- Two bags with 15 MDMA tablets each, weighing 7.89 grams (21.3% purity) and 6.416 grams (28.64% purity).
- One bag with 3,326 grams of cocaine (75.26% purity).
- One bag containing 3,899 grams of Ketamine (78.36% purity).
Conformity conviction and expulsion
The case was followed through the abbreviated procedure (Rollo 41/2025, coming from the Instruction Court No. 1 of Ibiza).
The conviction was reached thanks to a joint plea of conformity presented by the defense and the prosecution (Public Prosecutor’s Office). The defendant expressly agreed with the indictment and the penalties requested, deeming it unnecessary to hold a trial.
In addition to the three-year prison sentence, he was also sentenced to special disqualification from exercising the right to passive suffrage for the duration of the sentence, and a fine of 800 euros.
The central point of the sentence was the substitution of the prison sentence. In application of Article 89 of the Criminal Code, which allows the substitution of prison sentences of more than one year imposed on foreigners for expulsion, the Court agreed to substitute the three-year prison sentence for expulsion from the national territory.
This expulsion entails a prohibition to enter Spain for a period of six years. The sentence warns that if the convicted person returns before the end of this period, he must serve the sentences that were substituted.
The sentence was advanced in voce and declared final on the spot, since the parties expressed their intention not to appeal it. In addition, the seizure and destruction of the seized substance was ordered.
