107 arrested as Europol-backed raids uncover 51 cannabis farms in Spain
About 400 officers raided 42 locations across eastern Spain on 13 July 2021, arresting 107 people and uncovering 51 cannabis farms run by an Albanian-led clan. The Europol-supported operation seized 25,000 plants and almost a tonne of cannabis grown indoors on stolen electricity.
🇪🇸 Tarragona, Barcelona, Girona and Castellon provinces, Spain
Some 400 police officers carried out simultaneous raids at 42 locations in Tarragona, Barcelona, Girona and Castellon on 13 July 2021, targeting an Albanian-led clan managing industrial cannabis plantations in Spain.[1]The action day, supported by Europol’s serious organised crime centre with a virtual command post and an expert deployed to Spain, also drew in Albanian investigators and Germany’s Berlin-Brandenburg customs investigation office.[1]
The searches uncovered 51 cannabis farms and led to 107 arrests, including Albanian, Spanish, Slovak and Greek nationals, with 25,000 cannabis plants, 70,000 euros in cash and two high-end vehicles seized.[1]The group grew the plants indoors on diverted electricity estimated to have cost utilities more than 1.6 million euros, and shipped the processed marijuana on to other European countries.[1]A joint press conference in September added that 938 kilograms of cannabis and two firearms were seized.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Exit.alexit.al107 Arrested in Joint Police Operation between Albania, Germany, and Spain
Open questions the AI reported
Exit.al's press-conference account gives 68,760 euros seized and places the searches in Madrid, differing from the Europol release figures used here; the two accounts cannot be reconciled from the opened sources.
The reports do not name any of the 107 arrested or give court outcomes.
The operation was announced on 1 September while the raids took place on 13 July, so this report is dated to the action day.
National Police seized nearly 1,000 cannabis plants in two indoor grows in Granada's Norte district. A 35-year-old man was detained over one of the flats and referred to the judicial authority.
The Guardia Civil dismantled an outdoor marijuana plantation in Mira, Cuenca, in Operation TABACU II, seizing nearly 73 kilos of cannabis and more than 1,000 cut plants. A 37-year-old man allegedly guarding the crop was arrested and remanded in provisional prison without bail.
Spain's National Police dismantled an indoor cannabis grow in a La Nucía house, seizing 200 plants and about 38kg of buds. A 47-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and electricity theft and remanded in custody.
Guardia Civil officers raided a house and plot in Muro, Mallorca, on 9 November 2026, dismantling a cannabis plantation and seizing 727 plants, 117 kg of dried buds and 24 peyote cacti. A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and later released after testifying in court.
Arrested 1Released 1Plants destroyed 727Cannabis 117 kg
