Cannabis crackdown in Alicante
Raids impede the supply of the drug
A TRIPLE strike against plantations of marijuana that were being grown in Alicante province for drug dealing has been reported by the National Police.
Officers carried out operations in Elda, Benidorm and Elche, seizing over 30 kilos of marijuana and making five arrests, revealed a spokesman for the force.
In Elda they were looking for a large plantation in the deprived La Talafera neighbourhood, where they investigated two people and found an illegal connection to the electricity and water supplies.
They searched three properties, arrested two Spanish people – both aged 61 – and seized 26kg of marijuana buds, as well as numerous lights and electrical equipment.
In Benidorm officers going about their usual duties suspected there may be a plantation in the basement of a ‘respectable’ home.
With surveillance they saw a Chinese man going there who had allegedly rented the property to grow marijuana.
The home had also fraudulently consumed a considerable amount of electricity and inside officers found 5kg of marijuana buds, around cannabis 3,000 plants and a large set of scales. One man was detained but the operation remains open and further arrests have not been ruled out.
Meanwhile in Elche, officers investigating a possible marijuana plantation in the rural district of Baya Baja identified the people who were allegedly growing it and then selling it in the city’s Los Palmerales neighbourhood, which the spokesman said has been plagued with drug dealing for decades.
They searched two homes and seized 159 cannabis plants and electrical equipment for growing them, as well as quantities of hashish and cocaine.
One of the homes was used for growing and storing these substances, and had been fortified like a bunker with metal plates over the windows and a double reinforced door which required officers to use ‘sophisticated opening methods’ to gain entry. It was also illegally connected to the street lighting electricity supply.
The suspects, aged 28 and 36, have been handed over to the courts.
The National Police have set up special operations against drug dealing at all its headquarters in Alicante province, with special emphasis on eradicating indoor marijuana plantations.
They have recently dismantled many of these and arrested the people responsible for them.
UK delivery
The Guardia Civil has halted a marihuana delivery service to the UK which was allegedly run by an Indian national from his home at a golf resort in Murcia.
The suspect is a 34-year-old man who used a courier company based in San Javier to send the drug to his customers in different British cities.
According to the Guardia Civil, he owned several luxury cars with British number plates and enjoyed a luxury lifestyle in Spain, although he had no official job or income.
He is accused of using fake identities to send the drug to the UK.
The investigation was launched in May and officers using a sniffer dog intercepted one of the parcels which contained more than 1.2 kilos of marihuana.
It was vacuum packaged, wrapped in three protective layers and covered with a strong-smelling liquid to prevent detection.
The suspect’s home was raided and he has been charged with public health crimes.
The officers stressed that the operation is ongoing with the help of British police.