On Thursday 24 October 2024 the anti-drug brigade of Colonia department police raided three branches of a hemp-producing company in Nueva Helvecia, Colonia Valdense and San José.[1] The company held the licences needed to produce hemp but, according to the police, was selling CBD and THC preparations locally outside the law.[2] Police detained three people at the three sites: two men aged 27 and 31 and a woman aged 46.[3] The searches followed a year of investigation by the departmental anti-drug brigade, which grew out of Operation Demeter, 12 raids in Nueva Helvecia, nearby resort towns and Montevideo in September 2023 in which 10 people were held.[3]

The Interior Ministry said officers seized 1,140 kilograms of hemp biomass, 337 kilograms of plain plant material, 5 kilograms of mouldy plant material and 2 kilograms of plant material with THC.[3] Police also seized 250 kilograms of cannabis seeds in different varieties.[3] Officers took away jars holding BHO, droppers of cannabis oil, scales, two vehicles, mobile phones and cash in Uruguayan, US and Paraguayan currency.[2]

The three were brought before the third-turn criminal court in Rosario and convicted.[4] The older man received two years and ten months in prison and the second man two years, both for continuous supply of narcotic substances.[4] The woman was sentenced to twelve months for aggravated concealment, to be served entirely on probation.[4]