A court in Bella Unión sentenced a 28-year-old man over an unlicensed cannabis plantation and harvest on his property in Artigas department, the Interior Ministry said.[1]

Inspectors from the IRCCA, Uruguay’s cannabis regulation and control institute, went to a property on Ruta 30 and found cannabis plants, 14 sacks of harvested branches with flower to process and buds packed in sacks ready to be transported.[1] With the Bella Unión prosecutor’s office, the anti-drug brigade, a tactical reserve group and forensic police then raided the property and detained one adult man.[1] Officers seized 28 cannabis plants and 11 sacks holding branches with flowers for processing, along with a .38 revolver with a holster, four cartridges, two spent cases, an iPhone, a Ceibal laptop with charger, five security cameras with a DVR and a hard drive.[1]

The single first-instance judge in Bella Unión convicted the man, identified only as G.M.B.C., of a preparatory act of the crime of drug trafficking in the form of supply, together with unlawful possession and carrying of a firearm.[1] He was sentenced to 24 months in prison, of which three months are effective and the remaining 21 months are to be served under probation, Uruguay’s libertad a prueba regime.[1] The probation conditions require him to keep a supervised address, report once a week to police for 21 months and carry out community service one day a week for six months, spending the first three months confined to the home around the clock under police control.[1] El Pueblo Digital of Salto published the same Artigas police statement the following day.[2]