Skip to main content

30 vending machines used to distribute hashish and marijuana buds were seized in Madrid

Operation of the Tax Agency and the Municipal Police

  • The machines that sold the drug, identical to tobacco machines, had been in operation for just three months under a false appearance of legality.

  • 30 premises have been inspected and one person has been arrested and four others investigated.

  • Laboratory analyses have confirmed the existence of THC, the psychoactive substance in cannabis, in the seized product, which implies that it is a narcotic, regardless of the percentage of this substance, according to health and judicial authorities, and the UN Convention on the matter.

February 23, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency, with the support of agents from the Municipal Police of Madrid, Móstoles, Leganés and Getafe, have intervened in Madrid in 30 vending machines in which hashish and marijuana buds were distributed and have arrested one person and investigated four others for alleged crimes of smuggling and against public health.

The machines that sold the drug looked identical to tobacco vending machines. Even the cigarette packs had the same format and dimensions, and text was included to give the product a false appearance of legality.

The investigation began at the end of January, when the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Department carried out a controlled delivery of marijuana and hashish resin originating in Italy. As a result of the operation, the person in charge of receiving the shipment with the narcotics was arrested.

After inspecting the vehicle belonging to the detainee, numerous packets containing marijuana buds and hashish resin were found. After being questioned, the detainee told officers that the drugs were to be used to fill vending machines in Madrid and nearby cities.

Registration and sealing of machines

In the following days, the investigation revealed that in a large number of establishments in the centre of Madrid, especially food stores, and in certain premises in Móstoles, Leganés and Getafe, there were machines selling marijuana buds and hashish resin.

From this moment on, the collaboration of the Municipal Police of Madrid and the respective police forces of the other municipalities was requested in order to proceed with the immediate sealing of the machines.

The machines used, which had been in operation for two to three months, had the same characteristics as those used to sell tobacco. The way to distribute the buds and hashish was to introduce the narcotic into packets identical to those for tobacco, so that the machines would not have to be adapted.

False appearance of legality

The text included in the seized packets includes texts to give the consumer an appearance of legality, including, for example, a reference to the Spanish law that adapts the 1961 United Nations Convention ('Vienna Convention') on narcotics to domestic regulations. Specifically, the packs indicate Article 9 of Law 17/1967, which exempts from a series of restrictions those cannabis crops that are intended for industrial purposes and that do not contain an active narcotic ingredient (tetrahydrocannabinol, THC).

To reinforce the message, the packs state that the product “lacks the active narcotic ingredient,” but then they acknowledge that it does contain THC, in a percentage of less than 0.2%. In turn, the message is added that “this product is 100% legal for collecting use” and, at the same time, it is expressly stated that “its consumption is prohibited.”

After carrying out laboratory analyses on the seized substances, the presence of THC was confirmed, both in the marijuana buds and in the hashish resin, this being a substance included in the list of narcotics subject to international control by the Vienna Convention. The 1961 Convention, signed by almost 200 nations, including Spain, establishes that the buds of the plant are subject to control and are a narcotic, so their use must be limited to medical and scientific purposes with the corresponding prior authorization for cultivation.

The Convention excludes from control the leaves not attached to the buds and the seeds of the plant, which can be cultivated for industrial use only (textiles, soaps, etc.) or horticultural use, destroying the rest of the plant.

References to the THC threshold are established by the regulations on a radically different level from that of drug control, such as the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy, which allows the activation of aid to hemp producers only if the purpose of the crop is to obtain fibre, grain or seeds, and with the requirement that the plants do not exceed 0.2% THC concentration (0.3% since 1 January 2023).

As a result of the investigation carried out by the Investigating Court No. 1 of Coslada, the managers of the companies responsible for the marketing of these products have been charged with the crimes of smuggling and against public health.