Grassed by a fire in Muchamiel

SQUATTERS arrested in Muchamiel were found to be growing marijuana and also possessed firearms.
The Policia Local and Guard discovered the marijuana following a fire caused by an electricity overload in the illegal connection used for the squatters’ own needs and to force-grow the plants.
On this occasion the Guardia Civil arrested 16 of the building’s occupants, who were all Spanish, and confiscated 179 marijuana plants and a loaded pistol.
Iberdrola immediately cut off the electricity supply, the Guardia Civil revealed.
Not only were squatters defrauding the company, but the illegal connection was potentially dangerous owing to the precarious state of the empty apartment building where six families were living with small babies.
A further visit revealed that, undeterred, the squatters had rigged up another electricity supply and were still growing marijuana, resulting in four more arrests and the confiscation of another 78 plants.
Twenty people including 10 women aged between 18 and 70, all with police records, have now been arrested while the Guardia Civil asked the courts to clear the building of the remaining squatters owing its “dire” and unhygienic conditions.