Granada’s Guardia Civil carried out a special operation between 3 and 5 November against drug cultivation, storage and sale across the province.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Officers arrested 22 people during the three-day operation.[1][2][3][4][5][8][6][7][9][10] The action was part of the provincial command’s Servicio de Alto Impacto against drug trafficking and related crime.[1][6][9][10]
Across 13 police operations and 33 searches, officers seized 13,165 marijuana plants, more than 24 kilos of marijuana buds, 1,613 grams of hashish, 3,328 grams of pink cocaine and 34 grams of cocaine.[1][2][3][4][5][11][12][8][6][7][9][13][10] They also recovered an air rifle, ammunition and 19,831 euros in cash.[1][12][6][9][10] In Pulianas, two people were detained with 3,328 grams of pink cocaine and 4,506 grams of vacuum-packed marijuana buds.[1][8][9][10] In Loja, five people were detained in three searches of storage and preparation premises, with 11.605 kilos of marijuana buds and 19,831 euros seized, while three more arrests remained pending.[1][3] On the third day, searches in Illora, Obeilar and Tocon yielded 1,062 marijuana plants.[1] In Pinos Puente’s Las Flores neighbourhood, seven searches yielded 2,379 marijuana plants and a 9mm short cartridge.[1] In Caniles officers found four large plants weighing 14.4 kilos, and 151 more plants were seized in Alhendin.[1][14] In the first two days officers confiscated 9,569 marijuana plants, including 53 in Salobrena, 521 in Cajar and 1,702 in Pinos Puente.[1] They also seized 165 plants and 4,200 grams of buds in Calicasas, and found 1,427 plants, 4,815 grams of marijuana and an air rifle in Moraleda de Zafayona.[1][14] In Atarfe and Alhendin, seven searches yielded 5,701 marijuana plants, 1,613 grams of hashish, 34 grams of cocaine and 75 grams of dried buds.[1][12]
The Loja investigation remained open, with three more people pending arrest, including two Dutch nationals.[1][12][15] Officers found several indoor grows illegally connected to the electricity grid, creating a safety risk for buildings and occupants.[1]
At least 11 more people were under investigation for alleged offences against public health, electricity fraud and document forgery.[3][4][11][12][8][9][15][10] The Loja investigation was described as a network storing, transporting and distributing large marijuana consignments to other parts of Spain and abroad.[14]
One detained person was investigated for using Italian documents while subject to an Italian-issued Schengen entry ban.[4][8][9][15][10]
The operations were carried out by investigation units of the Granada command, including the ROCA teams, crime-scene inspection teams and the Alto Impacto operational group, supported in the searches by the command’s citizen-security unit (USECIC).[11]
The two men detained in Pulianas were held by officers of the investigation area of the Guardia Civil’s station in Maracena.[12][8] The two Pulianas detainees’ unit and the Loja group were described as follows: the Loja operation was run by the Alto Impacto operational group based in Durcal.[12]
The Correo de Andalucía account, written by Rafa Aranda, gives the figures as reported by Europa Press.[7]
The Granada command’s Alto Impacto service ran 13 police operations on 3, 4 and 5 November, the three days of the sweep.[13]
The Guardia Civil described the balance as provisional: 22 people detained and at least 11 under investigation, with further arrests not ruled out.[15][10]
