A Dutch gang was broken up with more than 1,800 marijuana plants

Three people have been arrested on charges of selling drugs, being part of a criminal group, and stealing power.

The National Police have finished their investigation into a criminal group of Dutch people who work together to grow marijuana plants in the province of Alicante. Three people, aged 46 to 70 and from the European country listed above and Colombia, were arrested as a result of the operation. They were charged with drug trafficking, being a member of a criminal organisation, and fraud involving electricity.

An anonymous person on the National Police website told police about a Dutch criminal group that grows cannabis and that there may be indoor marijuana farms in the Alicante towns of Alfaz del Pi, Callosa d’en Sarrià, and Pedreguer. This led to the start of an investigation.

Along with the information they got, detectives did a number of other investigations to make sure it was correct and to see if a crime against public health was being committed.

To do this, the agents set up a series of surveillance operations at the addresses given. They focused their investigation on an industrial warehouse in the town of Callosa d’en Sarrià that smelt strongly of marijuana and two separate chalets in Pedreguer and Alfaz del Pi. The agents had already looked into Alfaz del Pi in the past because people who lived there were arrested for growing cannabis.

At the same time, talks were going on with the power company to find out if the three places that were being looked into were losing power or were incorrectly linked. These talks proved that there was a big indoor marijuana farm set up at each of the three sites that were looked into.

After getting information about the group and identifying some of its members, it was confirmed that they were planning to cut back and collect the plants. This was the exploitation part of the investigation, which involved getting a warrant to enter and search the three properties that were being looked into, dismantling three marijuana plantations, and arresting three people, one man and two women.

45,215 grammes of marijuana, 1,849 plants, 1,746 cuttings, 280 euros, and three cars were seized during the searches. The cultivation equipment, which included fans, dehumidifiers, 100 LED lights, and brush cutter and stem cutter machines, was also turned off. The people who were being held have been given to the Court of Instruction in the town of Benidorm after the police processes were over.