Agents of the National Police have arrested a group of 15 people in the Alicante towns of Benidorm, Finestrat and Polop for allegedly belonging to a criminal organization dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of marijuana and amphetamines on a national scale. The agents have seized a total of 1,441 marijuana plants in an advanced stage of growth, 90.5 kilos of buds already collected, 13 kilos of stings of this same substance.
The detainees allegedly engaged in the large-scale production of marijuana, for which they used buildings in an apparent state of abandonment, far from the population, where they located all the infrastructure for the cultivation of this substance, as well as its processing, preparation and storage. , until it can be transported to other areas of the national territory, as indicated by the National Police in a statement.
The investigation began at the end of 2021 and gave rise to a multitude of surveillance on the homes, through which the agents found “clear indications” that pointed to the possibility that there could be ‘indoor’ marijuana plantations. The investigators focused on the identification of the members of the network, who possibly would have occupied one of the houses investigated, according to the Police.
During the exploitation of the anti-drug operation, the investigators assigned to the Narcotics Group of the UDyCO, supported by officials assigned to the Prevention and Reaction Unit –both belonging to the National Police Station in Benidorm– practiced five records in different homes located in the towns of Benidorm, Finestrat and Polop.
Some of these houses were single-family and had allegedly been conditioned by those investigated to be used to house large ‘indoor’ hydroponic marijuana crops, with “sufficient infrastructure to traffic it on a large scale throughout the national territory.”
In addition, those investigated had allegedly manipulated the electricity supply of some of the homes through illegal hookups to the electrical network, to “avoid paying the exorbitant bills generated by this type of crop”, for which the Police calculate losses of between 15,000 and 40,000 euro.
In the records, the agents intervened a total of 1,441 plants in an advanced state of growth, 90.5 kilos of marijuana buds already collected, 13 kilos of marijuana sting and tools for their collection, drying and treatment before distribution. In addition, they found four vehicles, some of them high-end, allegedly acquired with the profits from the sale and distribution of these drugs and used by the organization for their benefit.
In the course of the investigation, the judicial police verified that the group was “perfectly coordinated and orchestrated for the manufacture of narcotic substances on a large scale” and the functions were distributed.
Some of the organization’s personnel were supposedly in charge of maintaining the plants while others were supposedly in charge of buying the necessary materials for their care and growth. For their part, in the last step, the people of the group apparently cared for and guarded the plants 24 hours a day, to prevent other criminal groups from taking them.
During the operation, a 9-millimeter caliber short firearm was also seized, ammunitioned and prepared for use, as well as two more simulated weapons, a brass knuckles and an extensible defense that those investigated allegedly had in their possession for use. in case of possible assaults by other criminal gangs, despite not having permission to hold it.
During the search, investigators also found an industrial pressing machine, with a “high capacity”, that the gang was supposedly using to press amphetamine pills or tablets. At the time of the discovery, the dies and typefaces still had traces of recent amphetamine substances.
The Police have pointed out that these exclusive pressing machines are found and intervened generally in police operations where laboratories for the large-scale manufacture of illegal substances that are highly harmful to health have been dismantled. The agents also seized almost 100 grams of amphetamine powder prepared for pressing. The investigators estimate that the seized narcotic substance, once dried and processed, would yield a value of almost one million euros on the black market.
The agents have arrested 15 people, between the ages of 22 and 69, accused of the crimes of drug trafficking, belonging to a criminal group, fraud with electricity, illegal possession of weapons and illegal occupation of real estate. Those arrested were made available to the Investigating Court of Benidorm, who ordered the imprisonment of the ringleaders of the network.
The operation has made it possible to dismantle this gang that operated nationwide from the city of Benidorm and to dismantle a “very active” laboratory, both for the cultivation of marijuana and for the manufacture of amphetamines on a large scale.