The Civil Guard dismantles an organization that introduced large amounts of hashish in Andalusia and seized more than 2,000 marijuana plants in Murcia
The organization that introduced hashish to the coasts of Andalusia, used the method known as FONDEO and more than a ton of hashish has been seized
In Murcia, the four members of a family clan have been detained, as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of cultivation, processing and drug trafficking, fraud of electricity and membership of a criminal organization
The Civil Guard, within the framework of Operation Beginning, has dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to introducing large amounts of hashish on the coasts of Andalusia, making its 35 components available to the Judicial Authority. In another operation in Murcia, the four members of a family clan have been detained as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of cultivation, preparation and drug trafficking, fraud of electricity and membership of a criminal organization. More than 2,000 sativa cannabis plants, about two kilos of marijuana buds, a long gun and money, have been seized in two chalets with an illegal connection to the electricity grid.
Operation Start
In December 2018, a civilian guard at rest, when he was driving in his car, observed an SUV that due to its characteristics was suspected of being used to load bales of hashish. In fact, he contacted the Operational Central of the Command of the Civil Guard of Cádiz, and was able to confirm that the vehicle has been stolen. This civil guard then tracks the same and another vehicle, which is used by security organizations dedicated to drug trafficking, and stands between them. The SUV managed to flee but the driver of the security vehicle was identified.
This fact, along with others, led in March 2019 to initiate an investigation, on suspicion that a criminal organization located in the Comarca de La Janda was introducing hashish to pleasure boats. After months of investigation and several intervened caches, the civil guards found that the organization would use semi-rigid boats that would cross the Strait with the shipment of hashish and anchor it in international waters, but near the coast of Cádiz. Once anchored, the organization would travel in a recreational boat to the exact point provided by the Moroccan organization and take it to the fishing port from where the recreational boat left to take it from there to the nursery in a vehicle.
Investigators also learned how different boats were used by names of third parties with no history of drug trafficking, to avoid the police investigation if the boat was apprehended.
On the other hand, although they preferred to introduce the drug through the port, in case they were surprised by the Civil Guard, they quickly anchored the hashish in the sea and once the danger had passed, they picked it up from the sea and transported it to the coast.
On land they had stolen SUVs and quad bikes, which they used to transport merchandise from the coast to the nursery. In fact, during the investigation, the Civil Guard carried out three seizures of hashish from the organization.
In the first of the interventions, the organization changed the location of the Puerto de Barbate stash to another, because the Civil Guard was carrying out a humanitarian activity with immigrants in the said Port, but aborted when the patrol boat of the Provincial Maritime Service of the Cádiz Civil Guard. Finally, they anchored in an area of cliffs practically inaccessible from land where 320 kilograms of hashish were seized by the agents.
In the second intervention, the civil guards found out that the organization was preparing another departure with another recreational boat to international waters, but after boarding it, they found no bales in it. However, a suspicious buoy was later discovered very close to the scene, from which 19 bales of hashish hung.
The last intervention takes place in a recreational boat in waters near Barbate and in which 340 kilograms of hashish are apprehended and the two crew members are detained.
Once the modus operandi of the organization and the role of its members are known, the operation phase of the Operation is carried out. The Civil Guard investigators request 18 entries, 14 of them in Barbate, and more than 200 civil guards of different specialties are mobilized. The organization is completely dismantled and its 35 components are brought to justice for crimes against Public Health, Against Heritage, and Belonging to a Criminal Organization.
In addition, a total of 1,260 kilograms of hashish are intervened, 7 boats, 8 stolen vehicles are recovered, 6 vehicles purchased with the profits obtained from drug trafficking, electronic and computer equipment and 20,000 euros in cash are apprehended.
Operation Antmarmo
The Murcia Civil Guard has carried out an investigation that has resulted in the dismantling of a criminal organization, made up of four members of the same family who, presumably, were dedicated to growing cannabis sativa plants that they produced in a greenhouse hidden in a country house in El Romeral-Molina de Segura, where 1,316 cannabis sativa plants have been seized, a long weapon, money and numerous tools for cultivation. In a second home, located a few meters from the first, another indoor greenhouse with 702 cannabis sativa plants has been dismantled, where about two kilos of marijuana buds ready for distribution have also been apprehended. This second phase of the investigation remains open pending the identification of the people related to this plantation.
The operation began last February, when the Civil Guard noticed a strong characteristic smell of marijuana and a possible illegal connection to the electricity network in a country house in El Romeral, Molina de Segura municipality. Numerous surveillance operations were established, which made it possible to find out the people and vehicles that frequented the house, some of which had records of crimes against public health for drug trafficking.
The first line of research paid off after verifying that the daily electricity consumption exceeded the average consumption of a family of four by up to eight times, which foreshadowed the existence of a certain indoor marijuana plantation. In a large police device, the Civil Guard carried out the entry and search of the chalet where it located a greenhouse with more than 1,300 cannabis sativa plants.
The complex system destined for the 'indoor' cultivation of marijuana had air conditioning devices, high intensity and performance heat lamps, as well as timer-controlled irrigation systems, all of the latest generation, which could allow quarterly harvests without interruption. , which supposes an annual production of around 5,000 plants. The registration culminated in the arrest of four people – three men and one woman, Spanish, between the ages of 30 and 65; and belonging to the same family group – as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of cultivation, preparation and drug trafficking, fraud of electric power and membership of a criminal organization.
The now dismantled organization kept the house under surveillance both in person – with the stay of one of its members inside it – and with the installation of a remote video-surveillance system, consisting of six cameras located on the facade of the building, which They broadcast images in real time of the surroundings of the property. This system allowed alerting of the police presence in the area, as well as of attempts to "dump" drugs by rival gangs.
This first phase of the operation allowed the detection of a second home, a few meters from the first, where it was suspected that large quantities of marijuana plants could also be being produced. The following day, in another police device, the Civil Guard carried out the entry and search of this property, where they found a new plantation of cannabis sativa. The basement of the house had been adapted for growing plants by creating panel and insulating rooms, high-power spotlights, air conditioners, and humidifiers. In the same basement there were drying areas, machinery to separate the buds from the plants and bags for vacuum packaging.
The investigation remains open pending the identification and arrest of the people linked to this second plantation. Until now, the 'Antmarmo' operation has resulted in the dismantling of two marijuana greenhouses, established in two chalets, seizing more than 2,000 cannabis sativa plants, about two kilos of marijuana buds, a long weapon, money and the necessary tools for indoor cultivation.
The four detainees, the drug seized, the effects seized and the investigative measures have been placed at the disposal of the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 6 of Molina de Segura (Murcia).
