ARCHIVED - Marijuana plantations concealed in forests increasingly popular in Spain

Police have dismantled a large-scale outdoor marijuana macroplant in Zaragoza

During the Covid pandemic the number of small-scale “domestic-style” plantations across Spain increased noticeably, leading to blackouts on the outskirts of some cities such as Seville, due to the high number of illegal domestic plantations hooking up illegally to the electric supply.

But in other areas, the pandemic has driven marijuana cultivation out into the middle of nowhere and this summer police have located more than one plantation concealed amongst the vegetation of forests in areas which are difficult to access by vehicle.

Fortunately, the plantations are visible by air and are easily detected when forestry vigilance services take to the air during the hottest months of the year as part of environmental fire prevention patrols.
In this example, operation "Mariapilatos", the Guardia Civíl has dismantled a plantation of 2,656 marijuana plants in Mequinenza (Zaragoza) and has detained four people for crimes against public health, for growing and making drugs, and membership of an organized criminal group.

The investigation began in May when a farm dedicated to the cultivation of marijuana was detected deep in the countryside.

Four terraced areas were located on which the gang had cut down many trees and built two irrigation ponds from which an advanced irrigation system was used to water the plants. They also had an installation of solar panels, hidden among the vegetation, to provide electricity to the large tents in which they were housed. They had a kitchen area -even with a fridge and oven, another for a bedroom, as well as a greenhouse for drying the crop.

On the perimeter of the plantation area, the agents located several guard posts, camouflaged among the undergrowth, and with mattresses inside, from where all possible accesses to the farm were monitored.

The perpetrators communicated with each other from the different surveillance posts, and put up strong resistance during the arrests.

After arresting the four men, aged between 23 and 28, the Civil Guard carried out a detailed search of the farm, uncovering a total of 2,656 plants in different stages of growth, 10 solar panels, scales for weighing the substance, more than a kilogram of marijuana buds, a number of plants drying and various documentation that is being analyzed by the researchers.

Images: Guardia Civíl; Interior Ministry