Europes' Biggest Weed Haul.
Spanish authorities have seized and destroyed 415,000 hemp plants. The haul had an estimated value of around 100 million euros ($108 million). Police call the operation one of the biggest of its kind, with the plantation in question being called the most extensive that Europe has ever seen.
Roughly 50 tonnes of hemp were in the stage of being dried in a warehouse for processing into cannabidiol (CBD) when the Police discovered it.
The Guardia Civil force released a statement giving more information about the mammoth illegal outdoor grow. The plantation, located in the rural northern region of Navarre, spread itself out over a total of 11 fields (of dreams!). It had a combined area of 67 hectares (166 acres).
CBD sale and consumption is, in fact, legal across Spain and most of Europe. However, Spanish law still outlaws the cultivation of cannabis plants for any reason other than for industrial purposes. This includes textiles and seeds. However, the fine weather of the Spanish climate lends itself well to those who are tempted to try and pull off such an ambitiously vast outdoor grow.Â
Growing hemp or cannabis for conversion into any cannabinoid supplement, psychoactive or not, remains a criminal offence. Three people have been arrested in connection with the operation, which is believed to have begun in mid-2021 when Police discovered one of the fields.
The Police discovered only one field at first before realising that they had hit the jackpot with another ten of the same. According to reports, the plantation owner tried to pass the farm off as a legal operation to produce industrial cannabis at first. But after further investigation, the authorities soon discovered that the real plan was to export large quantities of the hemp plants to Italy and Switzerland, where they would be processed into CBD.
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Liz Filmer
