Simon Hunter
A MAN who was arrested in Spain in March 2020 in possession of more than two kilos of cannabis has been absolved of his crime because the drugs were to be shared between a total of 13 friends with no personal gain for the detainee.
That’s according to the sentence, as reported by Spanish news agencies, in a case that dates back to Spain’s strict coronavirus lockdown.
The friends ‘reached an agreement’ for one of them to buy the drugs for them later to be shared out ‘between all of them’.
The lockdown conditions imposed by the central government on March 14 meant that residents of Spain were unable to leave the house apart from to go shopping and for a series of exceptions, such as essential jobs or medical treatment, for example.
The man – who was arrested in Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country region – was chosen to purchase the narcotics given that he had permission to freely circulate so that he could take care of an invalid.
After the friends all contributed €260 for the buy, the man purchased the cannabis on March 23.
But unfortunately for him – and the whole group – he was intercepted at a checkpoint by the Civil Guard, who located the drugs in the boot of his car.
To reach its ruling, the court accepted the versions of the buyer and his friends, which included the claim that the detainee obtained no financial gain from the purchase.
The 2.1 kilos of cannabis were purchased for €3,380, but would have had a value of €10,777 if sold on the streets.
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