Spain’s Civil Guard arrested 20 suspected drug traffickers in Valencia as part of Operation Mocy, a Europe-wide crackdown on one of the continent’s biggest cannabis networks.[1] Nineteen suspects were Bulgarian nationals and one was Spanish, and the group included a lieutenant of the network’s leader.[1]

The investigation began in September 2019, when the Seville branch became aware of a Malaga-based organisation moving large quantities of marijuana from Andalusia to Poland.[1] Officers later found the network’s Polish leaders living in a luxury estate in Estepona.[1] In Valencia the officers found 20,000 plants hidden in industrial warehouses and chalets, including 10,000 plants on the premises of a grow-shop in l’Horta run by the Valencia branch’s Bulgarian leader.[1]

Officers also seized a ton of cannabis buds, 300,000 euros in cash and high-end vehicles.[1] The investigation was coordinated with Europol and Eurojust, and the wider operation reached 110 arrests across Spain.[1]