Up to 51 arrested in a police crackdown on drugs across Catalonia

BarcelonaPolice crackdown on marijuana trafficking. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) deployed more than 400 officers at five o'clock this Tuesday morning in two operations against the drug traffickers. Organized crime established in Catalonia and linked to drug trafficking and weapons. The dual operation has reached numerous locations across Catalonia (around twenty different towns) and, according to sources within the force consulted by ARA, 29 arrests have been made. The Civil Guard has also launched an operation against drug trafficking in Barcelona and Girona, with 19 searches and up to 22 arrests. In total, this morning, up to 51 arrests have been made between the two police forces for drug trafficking.

The two Mossos d'Esquadra operations are two separate investigations: one led by the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) in Barcelona, which has lasted two years, and another led by the DIC in Girona, which began a year ago. In both cases, the offensive aims to dismantle criminal gangs dedicated to marijuana trafficking, with plantations spread throughout the territory. Police sources claim they have struck a significant blow against marijuana trafficking, dismantling three highly active gangs, some of them linked to the Albanian drug mafia.

This Tuesday, police raided eleven marijuana plantations, mostly indoors, located in prominent houses and industrial warehouses, and also found firearms. In fact, two raids were carried out by the Special Intervention Group (GEI), the militarized police unit, due to the risk of being met with gunfire. Police sources clarify that both groups are not involved in arms trafficking, but do carry weapons to protect themselves from marijuana thefts by rival groups, a growing trend in the world of drug trafficking, as explained by ARA in a dossier on drugs this Sunday.

The DIC operation in Barcelona has closed with eleven arrests and a criminal organization dismantled, which controlled at least one marijuana plantation that has already been raided. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) have found hashish, heroin, marijuana buds, and four firearms with ammunition. The searches took place in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Sant Pere de Ribes, Cubelles, Sant Pere Molanta, Roda de Berà, El Vendrell, and Els Garidells. In fact, as police sources warn, criminal groups traditionally only trafficked in a single drug, and are now beginning to combine them, as evidenced by the fact that they seized marijuana, but also hashish and heroin.

Small and widely scattered plantations

In the case of Girona, the investigation is being carried out jointly with the customs surveillance service of the Tax Agency. Eighteen people have been arrested, and up to 10 marijuana plantations controlled by two criminal groups have been dismantled. In addition, police have found cocaine and four firearms. The investigation, which began in Girona, has led the Mossos d'Esquadra to carry out searches in Calonge, Lloret de Mar, Maçanet, Llagostera, Gavà, Marganell, Mataró, Cabrils, Dosrius, Pineda de Mar, Gualba, Rubí, and Martorelles.

Both operations involve agents from the DIC (National Commission for the Defense of the Interior), the investigative units, the citizen security unit, the canine unit, the Mobile Brigade, and the drone unit; the Operational Resources Area; the Special Intervention Group (GEI); and the Hélix group. According to sources consulted by ARA, both criminal groups continue the trend of scattering plantations and installing numerous but small plantations, which hampers police investigations.