A major police operation in Almeria has taken down a heavily-armed drug gang running indoor cannabis farms and trafficking hashish.
Authorities seized two tonnes of hashish and 740kg of marijuana – but it was the ‘concerning’ cache of military weapons that caught the police’s eye.
A photo shared by the Policia Nacional showed a series of top shelf weapons of war, all of which were loaded and ready to fire.
Among the three biggest guns were a 12mm semi-automatic shotgun, a Fabarm professional pump-action shotgun and a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic rifle.
On the smaller end of the collection were a 9mm ‘blow mini’ pistol, a 9mm calibre glock pistol, a 45 ACP calbire pistol and an Uzi submachine gun.
Dubbed Operation OLEA, the sting was led by the Provincial Judicial Police and backed by the Investigative Court No. 6.
Five arrests were made, and the investigation remains open, with more suspects expected to be taken in.
Authorities launched the probe after repeated power outages in Almeria’s Puche neighbourhood pointed to illegal electricity siphoning – typical of indoor grow-ops.
Surveillance led officers to several properties tied to the same family, used for drug cultivation, stash storage, weapons concealment and laundering cash.
During the raids, police seized 1,745 marijuana plants at various stages of growth, weighing 176kg, along with 49 bales of hash weighing around two tonnes in total.
Also seized were a vehicle, packaging materials, a frequency jammer, taser, satellite GPS, a tracking beacon and €11,445 in cash.
Almeria government minister Jose Maria Martin called it ‘the third biggest hit against drug trafficking in recent months,’ after major busts in Pechina and Huercal de Almería.
‘This operation shows the State’s absolute commitment to tackling drug syndicates and keeping our neighbourhoods safe,’ said Martin.
Antonio Delgado, Chief Commissioner of the National Police in Almeria, described the gang as ‘highly active and dangerous,’ adding that the seizure of military-grade firearms was ‘significant.’
‘We’re talking about assault weapons, UZIs, machine guns,’ Delgado said.
He also highlighted the broader crackdown underway after the National Police carried out 2,000 operations in Almeria so far this year alone, more than 800 of them targeting indoor marijuana grows.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
