A network of informants to discover thousands of cannabis plants

ValleysFinding cannabis plantations in the mountains isn't easy, but in addition to the water reservoirs—which allow them to tighten the perimeter—the Mossos d'Esquadra have a great ally: the local residents. Unlike in other areas, where officers have much more difficulty finding actively cooperating citizens, informants work very well in the mountains. Farmers, shepherds, hunters, rural agents, or simply local residents already have the contact information of the police officer in charge and alert them to any unusual movement. "A few weeks ago, a resident of a mountain village alerted us that she heard a brushcutter that didn't belong to anyone in the village," explains Jaume Carbó, the Mossos d'Esquadra corporal responsible for the Rural Environment of Alt Camp and Head of the Office of Relations with the Community. Since this is the time of year when traffickers clear the mountains to plant crops, the officers gave maximum credibility to the informant's testimony and responded immediately. Guided by the roar of the brush cutter's engine, they managed to find the hiding place.

"They tell us they've seen strange movement, a van... whatever. It's very important to us. Everything is information," explains Carbó. "I ask them not to try to act as investigators; if they've seen anything suspicious, they should leave the area and let us know, giving us the license plate or the color of the car," explains Carbó, who emphasizes that "afterwards, the informants have no involvement because you never know the source of the information."

This network has grown over the years, due to the work done by the Mossos d'Esquadra and because people understand that these are dangerous people and don't want them near their homes. "It's very important to us that any citizen who sees something suspicious calls 112 and provides information. If they have any doubts, we tell them to call. It's very useful because if we've seen that same car elsewhere, it allows us to tie up disputes," he explains.

Access controls

Another system the Mossos d'Esquadra use to detect traffickers is roadblocks. These first days of spring are very important because this is when traffickers must move all their material up the mountain and make several trips to prepare the land for planting. Officers suspect which roads they will be using and stop all vehicles. "The checkpoints give us a lot of information," police sources explain.

If they stop, for example, a vehicle that matches an informant's description or if the occupants are Albanian (the majority among those dedicated to mountain farming), the officers gather information. Also, if they see four men coming back from clearing brush in the mountains, they already know they have suspects. The Catalan police trust that when traffickers see they've been spotted, even if they can't arrest them because they're not carrying the drugs, they'll understand the message: no matter what you do, you won't be able to harvest the plants here. It's very important to do all this work now, in early spring, so that once they've cleared and planted, the traffickers leave far fewer clues. Normally, there's a gardener on the plantation that receives a weekly visit from another person from the clan who brings him food or materials that he may need.

Silent Drones

Drones also greatly assist the Mossos d'Esquadra in these types of operations, but they can only be activated when there is prior information: "They don't go out looking for plantations in the mountains, because there are so many hectares and that would be impossible. We only use them when we already have some intuition and have more or less a handle on where they are located," police sources explain. These devices are extremely silent and can record traffickers in the mountains without them even realizing it. There is also another aerial means: the helicopter. It is also very effective for certain operations, but it is not at all discreet, and this ends up being a problem.