Marijuana haul tripled in first half of the year

ALMERIA and El Ejido police seized three times more marijuana in the first six months of the year than in the same period of 2018.
Police confiscated nearly 18,500 marijuana plants adding up to a weight of 2,696 kilos of cannabis between January and June, up from just over 14,200 plants weighing 951 kilos in the same period last year.
Police carried out more raids related to the cultivation, production and trafficking of drugs than last year: 89, as compared with 66 in the first half of 2018.
There were also more arrests. The total number detained in marijuana-related operations over the first six months of 2019 was 152, while last year it was 116.
In addition, this year’s operations led to the seizure of €63,000 in cash, 16 firearms and a range of other weapons.
Another result was the dismantling of 505 illegal connections to the power supply, more than double the 212 discovered in the first six months of 2018.
A police statement said in many cases it was family clans behind marijuana production and sale setups in the province, which made it more difficult for investigators to penetrate the organisations.