Five convicted over cannabis plantation in Elze, all given suspended sentences
A court in Hildesheim found all five defendants guilty of building and running a cannabis plantation in Elze, and the paper reports suspended prison sentences. Prosecutors said the three men and two women grew about eight kilograms of marijuana on the plantation and sold it, which had drawn investigators' attention in March 2020.
A court in Hildesheim convicted all five defendants over a cannabis plantation
in Elze.[1]The five defendants stood trial at the Hildesheim regional court
on the charge that they built and operated a cannabis plantation in Elze.[1]
At the opening of the trial in mid-October, four of the five defendants admitted
taking part in building and running the plantation, while one insisted he was
innocent.[1]The newspaper’s heading for the verdict reads
“Bewährungsstrafen”, meaning suspended prison sentences.[1]
The five on trial were three men and two women.[2]Prosecutors accuse them of
growing about eight kilograms of marijuana on the plantation and selling it.[2]The plantation had already drawn the attention of investigators in March
2020.[2]The submitted report says the defendants wanted to increase their own
wealth by selling cannabis they grew themselves.[1]
Photos and video
Scene published with the report of the verdict against five defendants over the Elze cannabis plantation. Photo: Clemens HeidrichPhoto details
The article's body is behind a paywall, so no length for the individual suspended prison terms is given in the opened text; only the heading "Bewährungsstrafen" states that the sentences were suspended.
The verdict date is not stated separately; 9 November 2026 is the article's publication date and stands in for the incident date.
The article does not say which of the five defendants were convicted of which offence, nor how the court dealt with the defendant who had denied the allegations.
The statement of facts ends at "selbst gezüchtetem Cannabis…" in the paywalled text, so whether the court followed the prosecution's eight-kilogram figure is not confirmed.
No value estimate for the marijuana, no count of plants seized or destroyed, and no indication of confiscation or asset recovery were published in the opened text.
The regional court's press office had not published a statement on this verdict among the opened pages, so the account rests on the newspaper's reporting.
The report does not say whether the convicted defendants will appeal.
The lead picture, credited to Clemens Heidrich, is a court scene whose caption names the five defendants and the charge but shows no plantation, plants or seizure.
The September 2020 dpa report on 16 searches centred on Elze, which found 56 kilograms of marijuana, belongs to a wider investigation and is not treated as the source of this case's eight-kilogram figure.
A 24-year-old drug dealer from Detmold was given a suspended sentence on 10 November 2026 after stockpiling almost 1.5 kg of marijuana and 1 kg of hashish in his flat. The court linked the lenient penalty to the significant reduction of punishments following cannabis legalisation in Germany.
Münster Regional Court sentenced four men from Ahaus and Gronau for gang drug trafficking after they grew cannabis and ran a disguised depot in Ahaus. The ringleader received 5 years and 4 months; police counted 327 harvested plants on one plantation and at least 900,000 euros in proceeds.
The Landgericht Kiel sentenced a 23-year-old man from Bremen to one year and six months in prison, suspended, for aiding the sale of cannabis in a drug deal in which a 15-year-old was fatally stabbed in Eckernförde on 11 March. The court accepted that the stabbing was self-defence and dropped the manslaughter charge.
Charged 1Prison 1 year and 6 months, suspendedDeaths 1
Bavaria's highest regional court set aside the sentences of a man convicted over hashish and marijuana kept at several homes, holding that the 60-gram allowance must be deducted before a 'large quantity' can be found. He remains convicted of possessing more than 60 grams of cannabis, and a different Passau panel must decide his sentence anew.
