In a press release issued last month, the Spanish Civil Guard said that the aforementioned road transport boss had been charged with 200 instances of falsifying documents, as well as labour rights abuses.
Although some of the company’s drivers could be considered victims, other truckers working for the company have been arrested for their involvement in the haulage firm’s illegal activities.
In addition, arrests were made at the workshop where the haulier’s fleet of vehicles were equipped with tachograph manipulation devices.
The Civil Guard confirmed that 6 persons had been charged, with a dozen more under investigation.
“The employer forced drivers to use third-party driver cards and to drive with a tampered tachograph device. To do this, he falsified records and created a document with completely false registration data. The falsified data referred to driving times, rest times, speed, and distance travelled. In this way, the detainee put the lives of his workers at serious risk, and obtained illegal advantages in the competition rules governing the road transport market,” writes the Civil Guard, describing the case on its website.
The investigation dates back to around a year ago, when a road police officer in Girona detected a tachograph hack fitted to an HGV involved in international goods transport.
That sparked a thorough investigation involving Spain’s Road Safety Prosecutor’s Office and Catalonia’s police department.
The investigation soon led to the discovery of a workshop in Estepona, near Málaga, which was dedicated to manipulating tachographs.
The accused rogue haulage boss, who forced his staff to drive trucks with tacho hacks, was also found at the HQ of his company at Línea de la Concepción by the border with Gibraltar.
Law enforcement then went about locating several of the company’s fleet, which were all fitted with manipulation devices.
Moreover, those involved in the investigation discovered that in addition to using hacked tachographs, the company also forced its drivers to fraudulently use 3rd-party tachograph cards that had been reported as stolen.
“In this way, the detainee violated the rights of the drivers of the vehicles to their own rest and, above all, put their life and physical integrity in danger,” says the Civil Guard.
The devices installed by the rogue haulier at the workshop also allowed the company’s drivers to bypass the speed limiters on their trucks. It is said that the haulier’s drivers were pushed to take advantage of the hack.
Moreover, officers learned that haulier was impacted by severe staff turnover due to truckers abandoning the firm over safety fears and a lack of care for employees.
The Civil Guard stresses it is continuing its investigation and further arrests are not being ruled out.