The Civil Guard, within the framework of the “Montiel” operation, has proceeded to arrest 15 people belonging to a criminal organisation dedicated to drug trafficking nationwide. The detainees are charged with the alleged crimes against public health, belonging to a criminal organization, trafficking in human beings, document falsification, usurpation of civil status, money laundering and fraud of electricity. In the operation, 7 records have been made, two of them in industrial buildings in the province of Albacete, another two in industrial buildings in the Valencian towns of Oliva and Corbera, another two in the Murcian towns of Torre Pacheco and Archena and one in Seville . From the records carried out, 6,648 cannabis sativa plants, 47,139 grams of dried marijuana buds, € 8,478 in banknotes, 168,000 Hungarian forins, 1,780 remninbi (Chinese currency), 7 high-end vehicles and material necessary for operation and installation have been intervened. of the indoor plantations that have been dismantled.
Likewise, in one of the warehouses in the province of Albacete, a person of Vietnamese nationality, who was in deplorable hygienic conditions, has been released in order to tend to both plantations. The investigation began in May of last year, when the Civil Guard learned of the existence of a possible point of intensive cultivation of cannabis sativa inside a warehouse of an industrial estate in the Albacete town of Chinchilla de Montearagón and another in the town of La Gineta. Continuing with the investigations, the agents were able to identify the members of the organization, while drawing up the organization chart, detailing the degree of responsibility and tasks carried out by all of them, verifying a criminal network, dedicated to the cultivation, purchase and export of large quantities of cannabis sativa buds to European countries.
Criminal organization and roles
One of the cells of the organization was dedicated to the rental of the industrial buildings, where later the “indoor” plantations were established, carrying out the necessary works and modifications inside, such as the paneling of the rooms where marijuana was grown, the installation of powerful refrigeration appliances. In addition, the ships had a complex electrical system that was fed, fraudulently, from the general connection, located outside the ships, which they accessed by digging long and deep tunnels in the ground.
These warehouses had the presence of personnel of Asian nationality, who stayed in them permanently, performing the maintenance and security functions of the plantation. The leaders of the organization, in addition to supervising the plantations, gave the appropriate orders to those in charge of their control and maintenance, providing them with everything necessary for the proper development of the crops in addition to the food for their maintenance, since practically these people did not leave the facilities where the cannabis sativa plantations were housed.
Faced with the strong demand for marijuana, the criminal organization created another cell, which established a home in Seville as a place for packaging, distribution, and shipment of the drug, and was in charge of contacting intermediaries residing in other provinces of the Andalusian community for the acquisition of significant amounts of cannabis sativa buds.
Marijuana buds sent by courier companies
The bud packs, vacuum packed and protected by several outer layers, to make the smell more difficult, were presented to parcel transport companies for subsequent shipment to various European countries, using false identities and documentation, usurped from other Asian citizens. .The Civil Guard has intervened numerous shipments, in parcel transport companies in the provinces of Albacete, Valencia, Alicante, Almería and Córdoba, containing perfectly packaged marijuana buds hidden between clothing for shipment to European countries Interventions in various European countries
A part of this amount of marijuana was seized on English soil, most of it having European destinations such as the United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium and France. Likewise, 310 grams of marijuana buds, self-closing bags for distribution, 26 grams of hashish and a precision scale.
