La Guardia Civil has arrested a man of English nationality, for a crime against public health, cultivation and manufacture of drugs, and another of electricity fraud.
They have dismantled an indoor marijuana plantation, seizing 1,152 marijuana plants, some very sophisticated machinery for the treatment of substances, a vehicle and 6,700 euros in small notes.
The investigations began when the owner of a real estate agency informed the Guardia Civil in Jávea, that a tenant had not paid the rent on a villa for several months, and that they had tried to locate him repeatedly, without success. Based on what they had been agreed to in the contract, the agent could enter the house to show it to potential buyers, but the tenant had changed all the locks.
When the Civil Guard went to the house to locate the tenant, the agents could strong smell of marijuana coming from inside, as well as an incessant, annoying engine noise.
Faced with these facts, they began an investigation, gathering sufficient evidence to proceed with the entry with prior judicial authorisation.
Once inside, the agents verified the existence of an indoor marijuana plantation installed on two of the three floors of the property.
The entire basement area was packed with large marijuana plants, ready for harvest. The occupiers had carried out reforms of such magnitude that the upper floor of the property had been completely modified. The windows and doors had been bricked up, and the plants in this space were smaller and arranged on double-height shelves. On the third floor, extractors and ventilation systems had been put in place, connected to the entire house through a very complex system of pipes.
In total, the agents seized 1,152 marijuana plants in different stages of growth, with a total weight of 68 kilograms. The estimated value that these substances could reach in the market would amount to 118,932 euros.
To the crime against public health is added the crime of fraud of electricity, reaching the value of the defrauded energy more than 30,000 euros.
Two days after entering and searching the house, one of the alleged perpetrators, a 47 year old British national, went to the real estate agency to pay the months in arrears of the rent of the property, where the plantation had been found. At that time he was identified and detained by the Guardia Civil for an alleged crime against public health and another crime of fraud of electricity.
The detainee attended Court number 2 of Dénia, thereafter being released with charges and as a judicial measure and his passport has been withdrawn.
The agents continue with the investigations to identify and locate the person named in the lease and proceed to arrest and bring him to justice for these same events.
During the development of the operation, the agents found out that the tenant used false documentation to formalize the lease of the house. After investigations, the Civil Guard discovered that this person, of British origin, was involved in another operation carried out by the Civil Guard of the town of San Juan de Alicante.
