A police chief to the former 'number two' of the Interior: "If I take out the 'pendrive' from Bárcenas, what happens?"

Enrique García Castaño, then head of the Central Operational Support Unit (UCAO) of the Police, was dismissed at the beginning of 2016 and sent to a police station in the south of Madrid.

A new team in the Ministry of the Interior that had succeeded that of Jorge Fernández Díaz, heavily punished for suspicions of corruption in his department, decided to dispense with the services of Commissioner García Castaño, despite the fact that he had allegedly participated in some undeniable tasks for the PP government.

Among them, the so-called Operation Kitchen to steal documentation from former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas that could harm the Government of Mariano Rajoy.

For two years (from June 2013 to June 2015), the operation was alive without the knowledge of the judge who was investigating the PP box b.

García Castaño kept part of what was stolen in that operation and, in February 2017, when he told Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo, now retired, his situation, he advised him to threaten to take Bárcenas' flash drive to get him back to his

.

This is how it appears in a conversation recorded by Villarejo on February 22, 2017 included in the summary of the

:

García Castaño threatened Francisco Martínez with this possibility just two days later, as can be seen from the WhatsApp messages also included in the summary of the

The former

of the Interior answered him with the emoticon of the scared face.

Conversations between the former treasurer and former President Rajoy included in the investigation.

Two years after that conversation, García Castaño delivered that

to the Investigating Court of the National Court investigating the

, this document being one of the main pieces of evidence that has led to the prosecution of former minister Jorge Fernández Díaz;

the former Secretary of State Francisco Martínez;

and the curators Eugenio Pino, José Manuel Villarejo and Enrique García Castaño.

The delivery occurred when the investigation began to prove the illegal operation launched by the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior.

Among the documentation delivered by García Castaño, to which EL PAÍS has had access, are emails and telephone messages that Bárcenas and the then president of the PP and the Government, Mariano Rajoy, sent to each other, after uncovering the existence of box b of the game.

The documentation incorporated into the summary of the

adds more evidence on the existence of a police leadership that worked for four years, without judicial support, to attack the political adversary of the PP government —Catalan independentistas and leaders of Podemos— and protect the Executive from Mariano Rajoy of the investigation into his illegal financing in the so-called

In the first months of 2016, the political and police leadership of the Interior carried out certain operations, all without a court order, to discredit Podemos, the formation that stormed Congress after the 2015 general elections (69 deputies and 5.2 million of votes).

This conspiracy against Podemos was recorded in conversations recorded by Villarejo and in the exchange of messages between the then

of the ministry, Francisco Martínez, and two police chiefs with power and influence: Eugenio Pino (operational deputy director) and Enrique García Castaño (head of the Central Operational Support Unit, in charge of anti-terrorist intelligence missions).

In the messages of Martínez with García Castaño, advanced by eldiario.es, even points to a secret investigation into the 69 deputies of Podemos.

These movements have their origin in the electoral results of 2015. The PP (123 deputies) was left without sufficient support for the investiture.

The PSOE (90 seats) could add up with Podemos and the independentistas the majority to regain power.

On January 21, 2016, in the round of consultations to propose a candidate for the investiture, the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, transferred his government plans with the PSOE to the King.

He did it before negotiating them with the Socialists, and then he announced them at a press conference.

The plan called for Iglesias to be vice president and to guarantee that in "fundamental" areas, such as the Economy, Defense, Foreign Affairs, Interior and RTVE, "change would be achieved through people committed to it."

In addition, it claimed for its members of En Comú a Ministry of Plurinationality.

The PSOE did not accept and sought a pact with Ciudadanos, although that attempt failed.

The former head of the Central Operational Support Unit (UCAO) of the National Police Enrique García Castaño, before one of his statements at the National Court.

Eduardo Parra (Europa Press)

In this context, the Ministry of the Interior, headed by Jorge Fernández Díaz, launched investigations into the political adversary without judicial support.

This is clear from the WhatsApp conversations between Martínez and García Castaño.

This is an excerpt from those conversations, in which the objective of discrediting Podemos is appreciated.

The invoices of Churches filtered by Interior

On January 14, 2016,

publishes an invoice along with the headline: "Iglesias collected 93,000 euros from Iran from 2013 to 2015 that its transparency website does not reflect."

“It would be very interesting to know if those of Podemos have been involved in 'nationalist' issues

The talks between PSOE and Podemos for the investiture continued without progress, but the Interior continued to persecute those elected to Podemos.

"Look at the 69... You have to look one by one and leave a trace"

Martínez begins to lose patience on February 9, 2016 and asks García Castaño for a delicate job on the deputies of Podemos.

The politician and the policeman continued their intense relationship until the

broke out , the police operation to steal documentation from former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas that could harm the government of Mariano Rajoy.

García Castaño collaborated with the investigation and provided evidence that this illegal operation took place and that its direct boss was Francisco Martínez.

Both are processed.

The Prosecutor's Office requests 15 years in prison for Martínez and 12 and a half years for García Castaño.

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