The Civil Guard of the Almería Command has recently carried out two operations in Gérgal (Almería), whose common element is the prevention of those risks derived from the cultivation of marijuana and fraudulent connections to the electricity network, such as the discomfort among residents due to smells, the continuous disputes between members of different organizations dedicated to this illegal activity and the risks of fire and other accidents due to oversaturation and manipulation of the fraudulent connection points to the electricity network.
The Civil Guard at the Gérgal Station (Almería), based on its own investigations and the analysis of previous actions, together with citizen collaboration, has carried out two different operations between the months of May and July of this year.
Under the supervision of the Dean’s Office of the Courts of Almería and the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Almería, two house searches have been carried out where, in addition to more than 500 marijuana plants (Cannabis sativa), more than 35 reflectors with their ballasts and lamps have been seized, nearly ten filters and air extractors, 5 complete air conditioning units and more than a dozen fans in addition to the different material used to optimize the crops.
In addition, with the collaboration of the technical staff of the supplying company, nearly a hundred illegal connections to the electricity network have been neutralized.
As a result of these two operations carried out in the municipality of Gérgal (Almería), the Civil Guard of the Almería Command has arrested five people for crimes related to public health and drug production and crimes of electricity fraud, in addition one of the people was wanted for similar events and another was arrested when he was leaving the scene of the events driving a van, in which nearly 200 marijuana plants were transported, for a crime against road safety due to the loss of validity of the driving license.
Both the proceedings and the persons related to this crime have been made available to the Dean’s Office of the Courts of Almería and the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
It should be noted that this type of criminal activity, being illegal, represents an increase in organised crime in various areas, money laundering for illegal profits obtained, an increase in violent actions when organisations compete for the distribution market and, in some cases, in addition to the high risk derived from illegal connections to the electricity grid, such as disturbances to neighbours due to power cuts and even fires that could occur due to high energy consumption and manipulation of the electricity grid without any safety element.
