Simon Wade
OVER four tonnes of marijuana was seized and burned by Guardia Civil as three people were arrested in Aragon’s city of Teruel.
Including the three being detained, more than a dozen others are being investigated.
The drug was being stored and processed in several industrial warehouses, where police found roughly 50,000 marijuana plants and an industrial destemming machine used to separate the buds from the plants.
Operations only began in March when Guardia Civil traced the Barcelona-based owners of the buildings, whose main business was processing of industrial hemp.
Police found that marijuana had been grown and transported from Almeria by a drugs co-operative.
Sources believe the dried, extracted and processed drug was intended for sale around mainland Europe.
Burning was carried out at the site by the Teruel Helicopter Fire Extinguishing Brigade.
The detainees were later presented to the Investigating Court No. 3 of Teruel.
The cultivation of hemp is allowed exclusively for industrial use for the production of fibre or seeds.
Express authorization of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) is needed if it is intended for scientific, medical or research purposes.
