Photo via Mossos d'Escuadra
Police in Spain have discovered a huge marijuana plantation spread across three floors of a hotel on the Mediterranean coast, with almost 2,500 plants seized during a raid on Wednesday.Two Russian women, aged 40 and 27, and a pair of Spanish men, aged 63 and 34, were arrested during the police operation in the town of Pineda de Mar, around 35 miles northeast of Barcelona, according to a statement released by Catalan police, known as Mossos d'Escuadra.
— Mossos. Generalitat (@mossoscat) March 17, 2016Police said the raid resulted in the recovery of 2,491 plants with an estimated value of 60,000 euros ($67,000). Ventilation equipment, air conditioning machines, and fertilizers used for growing the plants were also seized.The drug growing gang had reportedly entered the disused hotel at least a year ago and been stealing electricity to supply the operation. The four members of the group will appear in court accused of public health offences, association with a criminal group, and energy fraud.
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On Thursday, Mossos d'Escuadra tweeted a 30-second video of the operation, in which at least eight officers and be seen breaking through a metal gate with bolt cutters. Inside the disused hotel, plants can be seen in various stages of cultivation throughout several rooms.Sílvia Biosca, 3rd deputy mayor of Pineda de Mar, told VICE News police were tipped off about the plantation by neighbors who could smell the marijuana in the derelict building."I don't think that this involved an influential criminal organization, but was a group of friends who built their own little business in this hotel," she said.Quatre persones han convertit un hotel en desús de Pineda de Mar en una plantació de marihuana. Ja estan detingudes pic.twitter.com/PEUhfKFSARDurant l'escorcoll els agents van trobar prop de 2.500 plantes https://t.co/oQaiHrz4vU pic.twitter.com/NVShNIOJrd
— Mossos. Generalitat (@mossoscat) March 17, 2016
— Mossos. Generalitat (@mossoscat) March 17, 2016Police said the raid resulted in the recovery of 2,491 plants with an estimated value of 60,000 euros ($67,000). Ventilation equipment, air conditioning machines, and fertilizers used for growing the plants were also seized.The drug growing gang had reportedly entered the disused hotel at least a year ago and been stealing electricity to supply the operation. The four members of the group will appear in court accused of public health offences, association with a criminal group, and energy fraud.
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