Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• In the plots that housed the plantations, located in Utrera, Alcalá de Guadaira and Coria del Río, 23 kilos of buds have also been seized.
• There are 16 people arrested for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking and electricity fraud

June 22, 2023 .- Customs Surveillance officials of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with agents of the National Police, have dismantled in three operations carried out in a period of twelve days, 28 marijuana plantations in the province of Seville, in which 5,500 plants and 23 kilos of buds have been seized. In addition, 16 people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking and electricity fraud.

The first performance took place on June 1 and took place in a rural area located between the municipal boundaries of Utrera and Alcalá de Guadaíra.

As a result of the investigations carried out, four plots with seven greenhouses were detected in which marijuana cultivation activities were taking place. Once the alleged perpetrators were identified, the Utrera Court on Duty ordered a raid and a search, seizing more than 2,000 marijuana plants and 17 kilos of buds and arresting five individuals of Spanish nationality, most of whom already had police records for similar offences.

Plantations in Coria del Rio

The second operation took place on June 6, when a series of complaints from residents of the La Hermandad residential area (Seville) led to the search of a total of four properties dedicated to drug trafficking in the form of both indoor and outdoor cultivation.

Following the searches, the crops were located, which had a sophisticated and highly professional system consisting of interior rooms, with different greenhouses on the same farms for different species of marijuana. Tools for making hashish by hand were also found.

In the operation, five people responsible for the crops were arrested and eleven plantations and two indoor crops were dismantled. In addition, more than 2,000 marijuana plants and six kilos of buds ready for distribution have been seized, as well as documentation relating to the different prices of each type of marijuana and hashish.

To carry out the operation, a team of around fifty personnel was established, with the collaboration of air resources and the Prevention and Reaction Unit of Seville.

1,500 marijuana plants in Alcalá de Guadaíra

The third operation took place on June 12 in Alcalá de Guadaíra. In this case, six plots with eight plantations were searched, in which around 1,500 plants were seized and six individuals were arrested, with searches and raids being authorised by the Court of Instruction number 1 of Alcalá de Guadaira, acting as guard.

The plantations were located on plots in rural areas with difficult access. These sites are used by criminal organisations because they are located in low-traffic areas and make it easier for the organisations to detect anyone unrelated to the crops.