A group falls in Murcia that sold Narcos to weapons to defend marijuana plantations | Spain

No one is interested in stealing A marijuana plantationuntil the time comes for the harvest or to move the bags with the buds. He Growth of these plantations in Spainpersecuted by law, and the need to protect them, has opened a market that a criminal organization in Murcia was willing to attend. The group, dismantled by the Civil Guard in mid -May, was responsible for providing weapons for those moments of maximum tension, in which drug traffickers play all the effort and dedicated economic means, and are exposed to suffering a turnaround, the famous robberies between criminal organizations. Its leaders, belonging to the same family, are investigated for reselling civil versions of military assault rifles, rifles and police shotguns to other organizations, as reported on Thursday by the Civil Guard. The prices to which they are marketed in the black market were four or five times higher. If one of those weapons ranged between 900 and 1,600 euros, they could earn up to 8,000 euros, they explain sources known to the investigation.

There are 18 people arrested and six charged ages between 22 and 55 years. The Court of Instruction number 3 of Molina del Segura (Murcia) investigates them for half a dozen crimes, including integration into criminal organization, arms trafficking, weapons deposit, against public health, whitish or extortion. All were released after judicial provision.

The Operation Resolute, carried out by the Civil Guard Information Headquarters, bears the name of a semi -automatic hunting rifle model. These weapons perfectly fulfill the function of imposing, in the case of making a drug custody. They have an “very similar” appearance to those of war and it is not easy to distinguish them externally, they explain the same sources. It differs from being triggered shot, while the war have automatic fire, that is, in the form of gusts.

The investigation began less than a year ago, in September 2024, when agents detected “risk indications” in the purchase of one of these weapons. The criminal group used third parties who had to have hunting permission to acquire them. These testaferros, who used to have economic needs, lent their name in exchange for an amount of money or the forgation of a debt. « There have been cases in which permission have even been drawn with the aim of obtaining them, » explain the knowledgeable sources of the investigation. Then, these testaferros falsely denounced that they had been stolen or lost. The weapons that did not come from the legal circuit

An associated band

The group is also investigated for maintaining commercial relations with another band also dedicated to arms trafficking, dismantled last February in another operation. According to the investigations of the Civil Guard information agents, consultations were made on the orders they made or the availability of certain models. The organization with which they collaborated, dismantled in Granada, had an underground shooting gallery To try weapons.

« Both organizations supplied each other to meet the needs of their clients, mostly other organizations dedicated to drug trafficking, » said the Civil Guard this Thursday. « Among the weapons they supplied there were AK47 assault rifles, shotguns and tactical rifles to the latest guns, » they added.

Although the organization was directed from the Murcian municipality of Alguazas (10,204 inhabitants), they had ramifications in other provinces. Some of the top people, father and son, were already arrested in 2017 for drug and weapons trafficking. Another of the investigated has a history of homicide with a firearm.

The Organization of Murcia not only trafficked with weapons, it is also investigated for growing and distributing the marijuana cargoes of other groups. He controlled several interior plantations of this drug and followed the works of foremen, day laborers or electricians through Wi -Fi cameras. The Civil Guard has identified and dismantled five of these inner marijuana orchards and has intervened the illegal weapons they used to protect them.

Loans with usury

The large amount of cash they managed made them also dedicate to grant loans in Usura conditions, indicate the sources consulted. If one day they lent 500 euros, they had to return the next day 1,000 euros. These demands made them end up getting goods such as real estate, cars or vessels to settle the debts acquired by those who went to the group in search of a loan. In one of the records more than 170,000 euros were intervened in metallic.

The group also tried to hide and bleach their income with the purchase of luxury properties and vehicles in the name of third people and screen companies. In the police records, which were made simultaneously in Murcia, Alicante and Cádiz, 11 firearms have been intervened (including an assault rifle and a subfusil), 897 metal cartridges of different calibers (249 of them of war), a silencer and numerous arms loaders, in addition to 1,733 marijuana plants, 4.1 kilos of this same drug Five luxury vehicles.

Since 2019, the volume of seized herbaceous cannabis has increased significantly in Spain. In 2023, Spain represented 68 % of the entire resin seized in the European Union, 30 % of the entire seized herbaceous cannabis and 73 % of the total number of plants, as collected by the Last European Drug Reportmade public at the beginning of June. « These data underline the important role of Spain as a transit country for cannabis traffic and as a production zone, » says the study, prepared by the European Union Agency on Drugs (euda for its acronym in English).