GRANADA – Operation Green Galaxy has uncovered more than 7,000 cannabis plants and 7.25 kilos of marijuana in a macro-operation against drug cultivation and trafficking in a neighbourhood of Atarfe in Granada.
The operation has resulted in five people being arrested with one more under investigation for crimes against public health for the cultivation and manufacture of drugs and for minor crimes of fraud of electricity.
Massive cannabis cultivation
Since 2016, the Guardia Civil has tried to eradicate the massive cultivation of cannabis sativa in various plots within the municipality of Atarfe. So far, four operations have been carried out in this area in which 41,226 plants have been intervened.
Drug traffickers take advantage of the fact that these plots do not have a known owner. They adapt them to the cultivation of cannabis sativa even with drip irrigation. Furthermore, there are improvised fences to separate some plots from others. And they are hidden from view with raffia cloth. Some even have armed guards to defend them from theft. In fact, last year some Guardia Civil were shot in the same area when they were mistaken for thieves.
Access difficult
Access to these plots can only be done through the streets of the neighbourhood. So this is another advantage for the traffickers. Therefore, it is very difficult for agents to access them without being detected.
The first operation took place in September 2016. This was the Rotavator operation, in which the Guardia Civil seized 6,684 cannabis sativa plants. Two years later, in June 2018, Operation Rotavator 2 took place, in which a further 12,195 plants were intervened. Green Planet was the third macro-operation. This took place in July 2020 and resulted in the largest number of marijuana plants intervened in Atarfe by that date. Some 15,250 cannabis sativa plants were discovered.
Operation Green Galaxy
On August 26, 2021, the fourth operation took place. As in previous years, the Guardia Civil deployed an extensive device around the neighbourhood. Ten illegally occupied plots of land were located and three sheds where they grew 6,156 cannabis sativa plants of different sizes.
Subsequently, five homes were searched. In the first, the searchers found 633 cannabis sativa plants; the second had 7.2 kilos of marijuana ready for sale; the third yielded 750 plants; in the fourth 941 and in the fifth 300. In addition, the five homes were found to have fraudulent connections to the electricity grid.
The operation is still ongoing. And as such, further arrests have not been ruled out.
