Operation against drug trafficking

• Four people of different nationalities arrested
• More than 5,000 plants have been seized in three raids carried out in Hospitalet de Llobregat and Granollers
• During one of the searches, the detainees broke the water pipes of the plantation to flood the premises and prevent the operation.

May 31, 2023. Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency in Catalonia have dismantled three plantations dedicated to the intensive cultivation of marijuana in the province of Barcelona, ​​seizing 5,312 marijuana plants and arresting four people.

The first of the interventions of the operation, called 'Primavera', took place in an industrial warehouse in Hospitalet de Llobregat on April 18, where the investigators discovered a large indoor plantation in the basements of the aforementioned warehouse since the electricity supply arrived through a tunnel that they had made to avoid the illegal connection being seen. A total of 1,931 marijuana plants were seized and two people of Chinese nationality were arrested.

At the time of the intervention by the Customs Surveillance officials, the detainees broke the water pipes to flood the premises and prevent the action, so the intervention of the services of the water supply company and the Local Police of Hospitalet de Llobregat was necessary.

The next intervention took place on May 3rd at a farmhouse located in a rural area near Granollers and away from other buildings, thus seeking maximum discretion by the organization. A total of 1,455 plants were seized at this farmhouse and an Albanian national was arrested. For the protection of the farmhouse, the organization also had two dangerous breed dogs that were handed over to an animal protection association.

Plantation with high sophistication and efficiency

The last of the operations was carried out on May 26 in another warehouse in the same municipality of Hospitalet de Llobregat, in which 1,926 plants were found in addition to 5,687 grams of buds and 4,404 grams of chopped marijuana. In this operation, a Spanish national was arrested.

On this occasion, the plantation attracted attention for its sophistication, with different dependencies depending on the type of plant and stage of growth, and the use of different substances and chemicals to make the cultivation of marijuana more efficient, to the point that at the initial time of the search, doubts arose as to whether it could be a legal facility, a fact that was ruled out.

A total of 40 officers from the Customs Surveillance Service of Catalonia participated in the operation, with support from the Drone Unit and the Intervention Group.

The objective of these types of operations is to intensify actions against this type of criminal activity, in which organizations and criminal groups of different nationalities participate, already supplying countries around the world, although the main market is the national and European one.