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article_detail
Date Published: 05/10/2021
ARCHIVED - Bogus industrial hemp producers caught with 34,000 marijuana plants in Alicante
The Guardia Civil has shut down a drug operation posing as a “hemp factory” with greenhouses in Orihuela and Cox
The Guardia Civil has seized more than 34,000 marijuana plants in hemp plantations located in Cox and Orihuela, in the Vega Baja area of Alicante province.
Earlier this year, officers from Callosa de Segura launched ‘Operation Miller’ focusing on controlling the activity of companies involved in the cultivation of industrial hemp in the Vega Baja, suspecting illegal activity.
And over the course of the following months, police detected “irregularities” in eight greenhouses in Orihuela and Cox, including the “unusual movement of people and numerous cars and vans parking outside”.
Following lengthy surveillance, officers raided one of the operation’s warehouses, “surprising the alleged offenders”.
During the search, 108 large sacks were found containing a total of 5,000 kilos of dried marijuana buds ready to be sold, as well as 1.5 kilos of hashish powder.
Officers also discovered three cold resin extraction machines, used to extract hashish resin from the marijuana buds, several large industrial grinders, two refrigerators containing traces of marijuana and a humidifier.
“And so it was confirmed that it was a hashish processing laboratory, a ‘pioneer’ in Spain”, according to the Guardia Civil, which added that the “illegal organisation wanted to avoid bringing hashish from Africa to Spain by sea and land, and thus reduce costs by manufacturing it on national territory”.
Five members of the criminal organisation were arrested at the end of August, four men and one woman aged between 31 and 44, in Cox, Alicante and Barcelona.
They have since appeared in court in Orihuela, where the main “ringleader” was remanded in custody charged with drug production, trafficking and being part of a criminal organisation. The others were released with similar charges.
Meanwhile, an Alicante court has authorised the destruction of the drugs seized.
Image: Guardia Civil
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