Catalonia Crackdown: Spanish Region Reins In Cannabis Industry

Interesting article published by Reuters on Wednesday Focused on law enforcement responses to illegal cannabis production and trafficking in the Catalonia region of Spain.

“Heavy-armed police arrived in a wealthy Barcelona suburb before dawn and raided a two-story house that was found to be packed with 800 marijuana plants growing under powerful lamps. bottom.” Reuters reporters Horasi Garcia and Joan Faus wrote:. “The recent raid, which Reuters also accompanied officers arresting two Albanians, marks a near-daily police routine to crack down on the burgeoning illegal marijuana production run by local and foreign companies in Catalonia, Spain. is part of a drug organization. ”

Catalonia, home to the majestic city of Barcelona, ​​has a troubled relationship with the Spanish government, with tensions extending to cannabis policy.

“It is now Spain’s largest producer, with most of its exports going overland to France,” the paper said. ReutersAccording to the newspaper, the region “has the advantage of vacant land for producers after the Spanish real estate bubble burst in 2008, slow evictions, no prison sentences for electricity theft, “It’s attractive because there’s a lot of marijuana-related crime.” Penalties are lighter than in neighboring countries. ”

Catalonia legalized cannabis clubs in 2017, but a sudden court ruling in 2021 overturned that law.

The ruling put cannabis clubs set up around Barcelona into legal impossibility. Reuters pointed out in an article this weekthe club now operates under “voluntary rules” that allow “only adults to grow their own marijuana, buy up to 60 grams per month to keep short-term tourists away, and take 15 days to approve membership.” ing.

“But many clubs, often barely recognizable from the outside, do not follow the rules because they are voluntary.” According to Reuters.

“I think the lack of (legal) control is causing a lot of problems,” said Eric Asensio, president of the Federation of Catalan Cannabis Clubs. told the news agency.

Cannabis cultivation is illegal in Spain. Last year, Spanish parliamentarians approved a bill to authorize medical cannabis treatment in the country.

In November, Spanish law enforcement agency Guardia Civil raided organizations that stored more than 32 tons of cannabis in various cities across the country. Police said it was a record raid.

“Private security forces seized the largest cache of packaged marijuana ever discovered. Jardines’ operation seized 32,370.2 kilograms of marijuana buds, the largest seizure of marijuana buds not only in Spain but internationally. It ended with the seizure of the marijuana buds, which would amount to about 1.1 million copies equivalent to the finished plant,” Spanish police said at the time.

“The 20 detained people (nine men and 11 women, aged between 20 and 59) are members of an organization with offices in Toledo, Ciudad Real, Valencia and Asturias, which is involved in the manufacture and distribution of drugs. I was in control of the whole process,” the police continued. A statement detailing the arrests. “The investigation began with inspections by the private security forces of several industrial hemp plantations in Villacañas (Toledo). Main [plantation] We surveyed the owners of the companies from which the seeds were acquired. The second carried them and planted them. A separate company was responsible for the care, maintenance, collection and drying of the specimens. ”

Police said the detainees packed the contraband “in various formats for shipment both within Spanish territory and to European countries, mainly Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium”.