The National Police found more than a hundred ‘marie’ plants in the house, in addition to the tools for its cultivation. /
The proceedings of an investigation detail the working method of the National Police in the Region of Murcia to detect and dismantle the ‘maría’ crops
Penetrating and permanent smell of marijuana; incessant noise from air conditioning units, and constant entry and exit of people to a building. Smell, hearing and sight. It is the equation that does not usually fail to detect that something is being cooked in a house, or rather ‘marie’ is being cultivated and trafficked with it. That was the pattern that revealed the umpteenth marijuana plantation dismantled by the National Police in Murcia in a house in the Murcian district of La Raya last November. But, what is usually the working method that researchers follow to obtain sufficient evidence to lead them to act against those responsible for an ‘indoor’ crop?
The police proceedings of an investigation to which LA VERDAD has had access provide some details of the steps that investigators from the Drug and Organized Crime Unit (Udyco) usually take. In this case, they had already set their sights on the two-story house, located in the Plaza de la Iglesia, in the heart of La Raya.
Research
The agents guarded a house in the Murcian district of La Raya where they arrested its two occupants and seized more than 100 plants
The patrols of the Operational Response Group (GOR) and the Provincial Citizen Security Brigade were in charge of verifying the aforementioned equation: suspicious movements in the investigated home; the presence of strong odors of marijuana, and the continuous operation of air conditioning units in the courtyard of the investigated building.
The surveillance work, however, was not easy due to the location of the property, in the heart of the district, and the permanent presence of ‘aguadores’ —people dedicated to alerting and warning of the presence of unknown vehicles or people or those who mislead suspicions-
Capture the emanation of heat
For this reason, they resorted to more sophisticated technical means, specifically the use of a thermal camera, to observe and analyze the heat sources that came from the house. The device detected the existence of significant heat sources, such as those emanating from one of the windows on the first floor, where one of the marijuana plantations was located.
During the surveillance carried out at the home, they were able to observe a large movement of people. The discreet surveillance resulted in obtaining images of alleged buyers, leaving the house with the purchased drug in one hand.
«Thanks to the investigations it was also learned that the two investigated were allegedly engaged in delivering drugs to homes, known in slang as ‘telecoca’ and making deliveries in the vicinity. To get around they used electric scooters and mopeds, “says the police report.
Above, one of those investigated attends to an alleged client. Downstairs, two buyers leave the house with a dose of the purchased drug.
Without light, without water, without living
Another fundamental aspect in the investigation was the consultation with the electricity supply company about the person who paid the electricity consumption bill for the investigated property. The company’s response was that the house lacked a contract, since it was discharged. Likewise, the municipal water service responded that there was no contract and that it had been terminated seven months earlier. Finally, in the consultation of the municipal statistical census of the Murcia City Council, there was no record that the dwelling was inhabited.
housing registration
In one of the rooms on the top floor, the agents found 51 marijuana plants one meter high; In the adjoining room there was another plantation with 54 ‘marie’ bushes in bloom
“From the data presented, it can be seen that we are dealing with a house occupied and used for the cultivation of marijuana and the sale of narcotic substances, the two men being investigated being responsible for its exploitation,” the proceedings state.
Investigators from the Judicial Police considered that they already had sufficient evidence about the ‘modus operandi’ used by the occupants of the house to carry out the alleged cultivation of marijuana and drug trafficking and requested a court order for entry and search. of the property.
The police intervention took place at 1:10 p.m. on November 3. In one of the rooms on the top floor, the agents found 51 one-meter-tall marijuana plants in a state of flowering; seven halogen lamps; seven transformers; three fans; two air conditioners.
The agents intervened several pieces of cocaine, one hundred grams of marijuana buds, hashish, just over 500 euros in cash and a compressed air gun. /
In the adjoining room there was another plantation with 54 ‘marie’ bushes in bloom; seven halogen lamps and transformers; an extractor, and four fans. On the ground floor, 11 grams of cocaine prepared in paper bags for sale were seized.
The agents seized 105 marijuana plants, 99 grams of buds; 11 grams of cocaine distributed in 14 paper bags, supposedly to make the sale of the ‘telecoca’; something more than a gram of hashish; a compressed air pistol; 14 halogen lamps; 18 transformers; two filters; seven fans, and four air conditioners.
Cocaine at home
Those investigated were also engaged in transporting cocaine to homes, known as ‘Telecoca’, according to police proceedings.
All the drugs were destroyed and a man and his son were arrested and brought to justice. Both were released after declaring without the judge taking any precautionary measure against them. However, the meticulous police work was done.
The defense: “The plants lacked the narcotic active ingredient, THC”
The two detainees in the operation carried out to dismantle the two marijuana plantations in the district of La Raya were released by the judge after giving a statement in court.
The defense lawyer, the criminal Manuel Maza, explains that the ‘marias’ plants seized from the house by the National Police were still in a state of growth in which they lacked the narcotic active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
«The cultivation of marijuana is not penalized as long as it does not contain THC. In the case of my clients, their plants were not yet in a flowering state, so they lacked the active ingredient.”
The lawyer assures that the judge would have adopted some criminal measure if he had understood that the marijuana indeed contained the stupefying principle. In addition, he indicates that it was not proven that the 14 grams of seized cocaine were intended for trafficking. “One of my defendants is addicted to and assured that this drug was for his own consumption,” says the lawyer Maza.
#marijuana #plantation #dismantled
