Spain: Guardia Civil makes biggest cannabis seizure ever

The Guardia Civil dismantled an organization that had more than 32 tons of cannabis flowers stored in several Spanish cities, including Toledo, Ciudad Real and Valencia. In Press release, the Spanish authority revealed that the organization proceeded, through a complex network, to send vacuum-packed cannabis to various destinations in Spanish territory and to countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, among others. The estimated street value for the seizure is around €64 million.

In an operation entitled Gardens, subdivided into 3 investigations, the Guardia Civil seized a total of 32.370,2 kg of cannabis flowers, which together would give the equivalent of around 1.100.000 plants, thus becoming the largest seizure of cannabis, not only in Spanish territory and internationally.

In total, 20 suspects were arrested, 9 men and 11 women, aged between 20 and 59 years. These people were part of an organization that had offices in Toledo, Ciudad Real, Valencia and Asturias, from where the entire production and distribution process of the seized material was controlled.

Research took place in several phases and different cities
The investigation began with inspections by the Guardia Civil of several industrial hemp plantations in Villacañas, near Toledo. The main suspects were the owners of a company that purchased the seeds, followed by a second company that was in charge of transporting and sowing them. A third company would be in charge of the maintenance, harvesting and drying of the plants.

The initial company took charge after acquiring the already dried plants, storing them in two warehouses located in the province of Valencia. From these warehouses, the product was then processed and the flowers were separated and packaged in different formats, to be then sent to different locations in Spain as well as to other European countries, mainly Germany, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland.

The second part of the investigation took place in October, in Almagro, Ciudad Real, where agents from the UOPJ of Toledo discovered 37.000 plants spread over 4 greenhouses, which were already drying, and the three people who were there at the time were arrested. . The Guardia Civil also found around four tons of cannabis in one of the warehouses, destined for two other warehouses located in Valencia.

In Valencia, Spanish authorities found and seized 30.530 kilograms of flowers, 20 kilograms of hashish pollen, all vacuum-packed, as well as 21.600 plants in the drying process and 231.200 packages of flowers. Documents were also found proving the existence of several other plantations, machines for processing, preparing and packaging the product, and two machines were identified that were intended to extract pollen from hashish. The search resulted in the arrest of 15 people.

The third and final phase of the operation consisted of an investigation in Asturias, where 4.000 plants were seized, which, after being analyzed, tested positive for the significant presence of the psychoactive substance THC, which makes cannabis illegal under current legislation, resulting in the arrest of more two people.