According to the National Police, a major criminal organization that had been producing cannabis on a large scale for ten years has been broken up in Spain. In the Barcelona region and Girona, large cannabis plantations, servers for crypto mining and a zoo with exotic reptiles were seized during the operation. Fourteen suspects have been arrested.
Ten years in the making
More than a hundred officers participated in the action and 10,000 cannabis plants were destroyed. More than 100 kilos of marijuana buds, 16 firearms, 16 vehicles and a boat were taken by the police.
The investigation started last year after tips about cannabis trafficking in the provinces of Barcelona and Girona. After the organization’s activities had been verified through various investigations, the criminal investigation department prepared an asset report. It was calculated that the income of one of the members of the criminal organization in the past three years had amounted to seven million euros.
The organization is said to have been involved in cannabis cultivation for ten years.
Safety precautions
According to the police, the criminal group took many security measures to avoid being discovered. They were in the habit of using rental properties, warehouses, and houses to create indoor plantations that changed locations every few months.
The ultra-luxury homes of the four leaders were heavily guarded and equipped with video surveillance cameras, facial and license plate recognition systems, infrared beams and motion detectors. The police believe that the criminal organization thus protected itself against rips from criminal competitors.
Armed guards were permanently present at the plantations.
Zoo
53 luxury watches worth more than 500,000 euros were also seized.
During one of the searches, two collections of computers for mining cryptocurrency were discovered.
In one of the houses there was a small zoo with 59 exotic reptiles. There were 33 species of animals threatened with extinction present, as well as two stuffed turtles.
The police believe that the animals on the black market have an average value of 30,000 euros.
Police say they expect more arrests in the investigation.
