Spanish Police Seize Huge Amount Of Marijuana Ever Caught, Worth $64 Million

A record-breaking $63.74 million worth of marijuana was seized by Spanish police.

According to Spain's Civil Guard, authorities discovered a total of 32 tonnes of packed cannabis, the greatest amount ever discovered both domestically and internationally.

Police made the discovery as part of a larger operation called Gardens in which they searched several farms and manufacturing facilities throughout Spain.

Credit: Guardia Civil

Police claim that nine men and eleven women, all between the ages of 20 and 59, were detained as part of Operation Gardens.

They were a member of an organization having offices in Toledo, Ciudad Real, Valencia, and Asturias, according to Spain's Civil Guard.

In unlawful business activities, the organization was in complete control of the production and distribution processes.

Credit: Guardia Civil

They transported marijuana throughout Spain as well as via other European nations like Switzerland, Holland, Germany, and Belgium through their complex business network.

Last month, gang members were detained at all of the organization's offices, but the operation's specifics weren't made public until this past Saturday (5 November).

The Civil Guard of Spain declared in a statement: "The Civil Guard has seized the largest cache of packaged marijuana found thus far."

"Operation Gardens has concluded with the seizure of 32,370.2 kilograms of marijuana buds, the largest seizure of this substance, not only in Spain but internationally."

"Its equivalence in complete plants would be approximately 1,100,000 copies."

To ensure that cannabis was recovered and that individuals involved were apprehended, the operation was divided into three distinct phases.

The process started with a Civil Guard inspection looking into various industrial hemp plantations in Toledo by tracking the activities of businesses in charge of, among other things, selling the seeds and providing care.

During the second inspection, officers discovered 37,000 plants in four greenhouses that were in the process of drying in the town of Almagro.

As part of the second phase of the operation, three persons were later found, and this led authorities to Valencia.

Over 20,000 plants were drying and over 230,000 packs of marijuana were found in this province.

15 persons were immediately detained when officials found documentation that indicated the existence of numerous other plantations.

Finally, a new inspection was conducted in Asturias as the third stage of the operation.

Four thousand plants were found during this examination, and two more people were taken into custody.