Spain: covering an area of ​​more than 67 hectares, the largest cannabis plantation in Europe was dismantled

On Wednesday, 13 April, the Spanish Civil Guard and the Forral Police in Navarre published a joint report in which they recovered the most important crop of cannabis From Europe. Located between the localities of Artajona and Olite, near Pamplona in Spain, the cannabis field stretched in total to more than 67 Hectare.

The apparent legitimacy of culture

If the mass production, of more than 400,000 cannabis plants, is able to quietly continue for several years, it is thanks to its apparent legitimacy that explains El Mundo.

Cannabis is not decriminalized in Spain, but its consumption and especially its production are strictly controlled. Production is allowed, provided that it is intended for private, industrial or pharmaceutical purposes. Thus, in order to be able to produce without worry, the culture officer declared that he was producing hemp for “industrial purposes”.

However, the investments made, as well as the final destination of this culture, informed police officers, who opened an investigation in 2021 about “This cannabis farm has dubious legitimacy.”

With good reason, hemp plants were already scheduled to be exported to countries such as Switzerland or Italy in order to convert them into CBD and other derivatives. After transformation, these commodities would have represented 100 million euros.

Booking conclusions

Police have identified 11 cannabis plantations. According to them, the 415000 Cannabis plants will represent 30 million euros. In addition to the crops, a large industrial warehouse, located in Artagona, was used for drying and storing cannabis plants, before they were subsequently exported. This discovery allowed them to seize an additional 13,000 plants being dried, as well as the 23,000 plants arranged in a truck ready to leave. This represents 50740 kg of cannabis.

The police report states that they have been arrested 3 Individuals in Navarra as well 2 Others are in the Basque Country, the vicinity. More than 415,000 cannabis plants have been destroyed, thanks to the help of the Intelligence Center for Counterterrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO).