Alleged Drug Trafficker’s Connections with Marbella City Council
Joakim Broberg, the stepson of Marbella’s mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, is facing a 22-year prison sentence requested by the Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office for drug trafficking, money laundering, and bribery. Broberg had significant contacts within the City Council, including the mayor and several councilors. A police report indicated that he treated the City Council “as if it were his own”. The Public Prosecutor’s request for penalties has publicly reopened the so-called Swedish plot, which is now heading towards trial in the National Court.
Prosecution’s Stance on the Case
The Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office validates the details outlined in the indictment signed by Judge García Castellón on October 29, 2022, confirmed in January 2023 by the Criminal Chamber of the National Court. Therefore, there are already three instances where sufficient evidence has been found against the mayor’s stepson, and also against her husband, who passed away in March 2023.
Broberg’s Influence in the City Council
It is important to remember Broberg’s contacts within the City Council, which the police considered he “treated as if it were his own”. Despite the mayor’s insistence that there is no connection between the municipal institution and the Swedish plot, the evidence is clear.
Investigation Reports
Between 2019 and 2020, investigators drafted three reports on the signs of corruption they were uncovering in Marbella’s City Council. The agents warned about alleged crimes of influence peddling, bribery, and prevarication, but it is not recorded that the judges of the National Court or the Prosecutor’s Office did anything about it. However, the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) did its job, and the wiretaps they recorded came to light in May 2023, providing significant clarity.
Broberg’s Direct Access to the Mayor
The judge and the Prosecutor’s Office consider Joakim Broberg, the alleged head of the Swedish plot, to have had direct access to Marbella’s mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, his stepmother, and several councilors.
Contacts and Meetings
Through her, he arranged a meeting between a Russian businessman and the councilor for Public Road and Industry, Félix Romero. He also arranged a meeting with the then general director of Beaches, Victoria Martín Lomeña, who is now the general secretary of Public Employment and Training of the Board. Investigators suspected an “exchange of favors” to resolve an issue for the said businessman, who shortly after ended up sponsoring the race car of the mayor’s biological son, Christian Broberg Muñoz.
Broberg’s Influence in the City Council
In addition, Joakim Broberg had the ability to directly call at least two councilors of Marbella’s City Council. On one hand, his familiarity and closeness with Diego López, councilor for Works, Cleaning, and Parks and Gardens, who called him “brother”, stands out. An audio was also published in which the alleged drug trafficker calls the councilor for Citizen Security, José Eduardo Díaz, asking him to take care of him. “Always, count on it,” the councilor said. It is not surprising, therefore, that the UDEF pointed out in a report that Joakim Broberg “treats the institution of Marbella’s City Council as if it were his own”. He has “the power to influence matters that are public and that in no case should be influenced by personal or family closeness,” the investigators added.
