The investigation team of the Main Post of the Civil Guard of Vícar, within the framework of the operation called ‘ Hill ‘, has arrested a 21-year-old man as the perpetrator of the crimes of drug cultivation and manufacturing (against public health) , fraud of electricity and occupation of real estate. In addition, 1,300 marijuana plants have been intervened in an industrial warehouse in the municipality of Vícar, which the young man had converted into a sophisticated indoor crop.
This investigation, framed within the fight plan developed by the Civil Guard against the trafficking, cultivation or production of narcotic substances in the province of Almería, began as a result of police investigations and operational controls in the area.
As a result of these preventive tasks and the obtaining of information, agents of the Civil Guard obtained evidence that there could be an indoor cultivation of marijuana inside a disused warehouse in an industrial estate in the town of Vícar.
Based on the open line of investigation, after coordinating a laborious device, the agents proceeded to inspect and search the warehouse, managing to surprise the perpetrator of the events inside carrying out maintenance work for the optimal flowering cultivation of a plantation of large marijuana.
It was an industrial warehouse of about 1,200 square meters, dedicated in the past to the distribution and sale of phytosanitary products and which had been without activity for about 10 years. Inside, the detainee had separated several spaces with plywood material to have different cultivation and growth areas appropriate for each phase of production.
The plantation had a very sophisticated system that allowed most of the maintenance work and remote surveillance to be carried out. The warehouse had video surveillance cameras arranged at strategic points in the plantation, as well as remote control systems for irrigation and fertilizer.
The Civil Guard has seized 1,300 marijuana plants that were in a very advanced state. The buds, the main basis of these crops, were in an optimal phase and of high quality to be collected, estimating the market value of close to 270,000 euros. In addition, the agents intervened 45 mixed sources, 15 fans, three industrial air conditioning machines, two filters and two extractors.
Likewise, technical personnel from the electricity supply company of the province of Almería were involved, who neutralized an illegal connection that fed the entire system.
There is a possibility that these organizations or criminal groups take advantage of this type of abandoned ships to carry out their crimes, so their owners are warned to check their condition regularly, in order to inform the Civil Guard. in case they notice that they may be being used, without their consent, for criminal activities
As a result of this investigation, the Civil Guard has arrested a 21-year-old man, who responds to the initials of EM, as the perpetrator of the crimes of drug cultivation and manufacturing (against public health), electricity fraud and of occupation of real estate.
The proceedings carried out together with the plants and material seized have been made available to the Investigative Court No. 5 of Almería, who has ordered the detainee’s provisional imprisonment without bail.