The Civil Guard intervenes 62,000 cannabis plants in a hemp plantation in Almería
The general director of the Civil Guard, María Gámez, explained this morning in Almería the results of this important operation against marijuana trafficking in the province
The wintering farm has been located in Lucainena de las Torres (Almería), where the civil guards have found a plantation in an advanced state of growth
Gámez has also offered details of a second operation in which the Civil Guard has intervened 400 kilos of hashish and arrested nine people
The director of the Civil Guard, María Gámez, presented this morning in Almería the results of an important operation – called Virgil – in which 62,000 cannabis plants were intervened on a farm in Lucainena de la Torre (Almería). The person in charge of this plantation has been arrested as the author of a crime against public health.
Gámez explained at a press conference that the finding occurred during one of the inspections carried out by the Civil Guard to control the cultivation of industrial hemp. During the inspection, the agents locate a greenhouse with cannabis crops in an advanced stage of growth.
The general director of the Corps has detailed that this type of action entails a great effort in the cutting process for its destruction, due to the large number of plants involved. In this sense, Gámez has pointed out that the cultivation of hemp is allowed exclusively for industrial purposes, that is, those whose destination is the production of fiber or seeds. Also with the express authorization of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS), when it is intended for scientific, medical or research purposes.
Operation Menthan
On the other hand, María Gámez has also unveiled a second relevant operation in Almería against the international trafficking of hashish and marijuana. The dismantled organization was made up of Albanian citizens who operated from the west of Almeria. Gámez has specified that the Menthan operation has resulted in the arrest of nine people and 400 kilos of hashish that they intended to transport to Italy by road transport have been seized. In addition, nine searches have been carried out in Aguadulce and Vícar, where they had settled and from where they directed and coordinated their criminal activities.
The investigation –according to Gámez- has revealed that the detainees were part of a faction of an international organization with connections to the Italian mafia, with the “Sacra Corona Unita”.
Gámez has stressed that the operation began in April of last year, when at a police checkpoint established on the A-92 highway, as it passed through the municipality of Fiñana, they proceeded to arrest a person who was transporting 26 kg of cannabis.
Continuing with the investigations, the agents were able to determine that behind this transport there was an organized and highly specialized criminal network, which had significant financial and human resources, and that it had the necessary contacts to capture a significant market share, acquiring a significant part of the production of cannabis from the west of Almeria that they were in charge of sending to third countries.
Likewise, it was found that the leader of the plot had arranged his operations center on the terrace of a bar in Vícar where he met with buyers arriving from other countries or gave orders to his subordinates, who spent the day moving from one place to another. side to side to close deals with drug producers.
The general director of the Civil Guard has pointed out that it was during the surveillance to which the members of the organization were subjected, when the agents were able to observe how they moved to an industrial warehouse in the same town. There, between strong security measures, a large device was loaded onto a truck. When that truck was intercepted, it was found that what they had loaded was a high-voltage current transformer that had been modified and that it housed 400kg of hashish carefully vacuum packed.
For this reason, the Civil Guard proceeded to arrest the members of the organization.
The operation has been developed by the Organized Crime and Anti-Drug Team of the Civil Guard of Almería, and directed by the Investigating Court number 3 of Almería.
Balance of marijuana apprehensions first semester 2021
María Gámez has concluded with a balance in which she has specified that the Civil Guard detained 100 people during the first half of 2021 and investigated 5 people for drug trafficking. Likewise, about 17,551 marijuana plants, 188,579 hemp plants and 250 kilograms of buds have been intervened in the 63 interventions carried out in this area.
Likewise, 292 illegal hookups to the electricity grid and 254 illegal hookups to the water grid have been neutralized.
Drug trafficking has grown exponentially in recent years, mainly due to the boom in the cultivation of cannabis, a subject in which the southeast of Spain has become a benchmark at a European level, thus placing itself in the spotlight of organizations criminals of an international character. This has forced the Civil Guard to redouble its efforts in the fight against organizations dedicated to drug trafficking, an activity that gives rise to serious security problems that affect the normal coexistence of citizens.
For more information, you can contact the Peripheral Communication Office of the Civil Guard in Almería on the phone 950621956.
