British gangs making millions as they grow cannabis in Spain exploiting legal grey areas

[Simple Jack]

British gangs making millions as they grow cannabis in Spain exploiting legal grey areas

Weed hauls in Spain have quadrupled in five years, with over three million plants seized in 2021, a record for a country that is already Europe’s top dope producer

Brit gangs are making millions growing cannabis in Spain.

They exploit legal grey areas by claiming it is for industrial or medical uses, which is allowed in certain cases.

Weed hauls have quadrupled in five years, with over three million plants seized in 2021, a record for a country that is already Europe’s top dope producer.

Brit dealers are renting land and churning out crops on an industrial scale to pocket up to £250,000 per cycle.

The weed is being distributed to coffee shops and legal cannabis clubs in Spain and shipped to the UK.

Growers are even feeding a surge in demand from terminally ill Britons for cannabis oil.

One producer who set up a warehouse in Grenada said: “You’ve got Mancs, Scousers, Londoners all coming to Spain to put massive grows on.
“There’s big money to be made because demand for the top strains is now bigger than ever.

“You just have to claim it’s for industrial purposes and that you’re only growing a certain number of plants with low levels of THC. Spanish police are on to it a bit more now but for years they’ve largely turned a blind eye.”

He showed us pictures of a professional operation he set up with two others in a plush rented villa in the mountains.

It shows a room full of plants and specialist lighting. In total he was growing 400 plants with a street value of a quarter of a million pounds.

 

The dealer said he had operated in the cannabis trade with some of the biggest players, connected to feared Irish crime family the Kinahans.

He said: “If you want to do anything in the Costas, then you best be prepared that the Kinahans know about it. But don’t get on the wrong side of them. Everyone knows that if the Kinahan mob tell you to leave town, then you leave town.”

Last month investigators found a record six tons of marijuana at an 80-acre plantation near Barcelona.

The haul included 3.5 tonnes of buds seized in vacuum-packed thermal bags. It was their biggest ever seizure and is believed to be connected to a British drugs gang.

Signs at the site in Vilassar de Mar claimed it was a legal operation but police soon realised the ruse.

In April, police busted three British growers running a mail-order service from the Costa Blanca. Cops raided warehouses after a 6kg package was intercepted en route to the Netherlands.

The southern region of Almeria has seen an explosion of farms.

In 2021, Civil Guard officers seized just over 630,000 marijuana plants there – eighteen times more than the 34,000 seized in 2020.

Narcotics prosecutor Maria Ángeles Pérez said: “Criminal organizations with indoor plantations are now buying farms and greenhouses to grow what is supposedly industrial hemp.”

Some criminals claim they are in the process of requesting the necessary authorisation while others claim it is grown for medical reasons.

Lax and confusing drug laws vary from region to region in Spain and are constantly changing due to court rulings.

There are hundreds of cannabis social clubs, with Barcelona now said to be the centre of the trade and Europe’s biggest magnet for dopeheads.

 

Spain’s climate, huge size and sparse population makes it ideal for gangster growers. One remote farm busted near Toledo last October was said to be the size of 16 football pitches.

 

Weed is legal for personal use and when grown for industrial use – generally fibre – or for the oil extracted from it.

It is not legal to sell the buds, ­regardless of the amount of THC – the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol – they contain.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/british-gangs-making-millions-grow-27900963

[twigs]

 don’t like it? let the everyday people grow cannabis all over euro land, problem is the ‘crime’ is linked to the governments most in control of ‘drug control’ they and the hundreds of shadow companies and employees make a good living from it, charities, private drug clinics, pharmaceutical industry, tobacco alcohol and entertainment industry, health care industry, police forces etc

 

all privately profiting and supported by you not being allowed to use natural cannabis 

 

[stu914]

58 minutes ago, twigs said:

hundreds of shadow companies and employees make a good living from it

While at the same time demonising the very thing that's lining their pockets, they don't have to try too hard with

100 years of propaganda to rely on.

Only yesterday I explained to the mrs' hairdresser about the Sugar/Norfolk connection...sent her off to google...hopefully another convert.

Edited September 5, 2022 by stu914

[pollenlover]

This article is a load of nonsense. There aren't any "legal grey" areas when it comes to cannabis production in Spain. Only in the imagination of some people. The law is very clear, hemp production and medical production both require licenses. The Police generally act first and ask questions later. Still lets not let that get in the way of a story.

[Newcouch]

plants now worth £625 each. a bit of a drop!

[stummer]

Gotta throw in the kinahan name to add to the drama of simply growing a plant. As usual the money they talk about is way off. Less than a ton for a oz these days. It may as well be legal, most people I know who was in it for cash aren’t bothering anymore. 

[Thai Stick]

1 hour ago, stummer said:

Gotta throw in the kinahan name to add to the drama of simply growing a plant. As usual the money they talk about is way off. Less than a ton for a oz these days. It may as well be legal, most people I know who was in it for cash aren’t bothering anymore. 

It's less than £100 for an oz in the UK now?....

[Justanotherdude]

Depends on the branding. 

[Slippy One]

9 hours ago, Simple Jack said:

Brit dealers are renting land and churning out crops on an industrial scale to pocket up to £250,000 per cycle.

 

Fkn good on them with current laws being unfit for purpose since 1971.

 

[ratdog]

British Sugar making millions as they grow cannabis in the UK exploiting a legal loophole of some kind? 

[Slippy One]

1 minute ago, ratdog said:

British Sugar making millions as they grow cannabis in the UK exploiting a legal loophole of some kind? 

No way, they're using a "research" license. I hope they find what they're looking for.

 

Unless they're researching how to fuck the public over while making billions, in which case the research will go on indefinitely.

 

Take that plebs, if only you worked harder or had more ambition..

 

 

[ratdog]

6 minutes ago, Slippy One said:

they're using a "research" license.

 

 

i call that a loop hole

[Slippy One]

11 minutes ago, ratdog said:

 

 

i call that a loop hole

That's what Pete Townsend said.  

 

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by Slippy One

[stummer]

@Welsh Tom lend us a tenner  

[Gimps]

49 minutes ago, ratdog said:

call that a loop hole

Helped along by your Mrs being the drugs minister at the time...

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/drugs-minister-victoria-atkins-hypocrisy-cannabis-paul-kenward-british-sugar-a8356056.html