A National Police officer has been suspended without pay after failing to intervene while people allegedly consumed cocaine in a street in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His police identification card was also reportedly used to prepare the drug for consumption.

The officer received two serious disciplinary sanctions, resulting in a suspension lasting five months and 20 days. The High Court of Justice in Madrid has now upheld the penalties imposed by the National Police Directorate.

The incident occurred when officers found him with three other people during a police operation. Cocaine was allegedly being consumed in public and prepared using his professional identification card.

The sanctioned officer denied knowing that drugs were being taken. He claimed he had moved a considerable distance away from the group to answer a telephone call.

He said he had shown the card to a friend so they could see its worn condition, but had then forgotten about it. He insisted he did not know it was subsequently being used to prepare lines of cocaine.

Five officers involved in the operation confirmed that he was standing away from the group and was not seen taking drugs. However, when they asked who owned the cocaine, one person appeared to suggest that it belonged to the officer.

The officer appealed against the sanctions, arguing that the allegations had not been proven and that the punishment was disproportionate. State lawyers opposed the appeal, citing inconsistencies and changes in the accounts given by the officer and his acquaintance.

They argued it was unlikely that he had failed to notice people consuming drugs just 50 centimetres away, particularly as he had recently travelled with them in the same vehicle.

The court found that it was irrelevant whether drugs were discovered on the officer or whether he was seen taking them. The disciplinary action related to his failure to intervene and the use of his identification card to prepare the cocaine.