Spain dismantles Chinese gang selling cannabis across Europe
- Police identified the group as ‘Bang of Fujian’ and arrested at least 65 people, most of them Chinese nationals, in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands
- 13 indoor plantations with nearly 40,000 marijuana plants were dismantled – the harvested buds could have fetched US$7.2 million in European markets
Police in Spain said on Tuesday they have dismantled one of the largest criminal gangs growing cannabis in the country and trafficking it across Europe.
At least 65 people, most of them Chinese nationals, were arrested in several Spanish cities, Portugal and the Netherlands, according to a joint statement from the national and Catalan regional police bodies.
Police identified the gang as “Bang of Fujian”, in reference to the eastern Chinese province where the two main families that formed it originated. The group operated mainly from its Barcelona base, in northeastern Spain.
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Over 350 law enforcement agents, assisted by Europol, searched 29 large warehouses and other locations in Barcelona, Tarragona, Oviedo, Gijón and Bilbao, as well as private residences in Portugal and the Netherlands.
Police said officers dismantled 13 indoor plantations with nearly 40,000 marijuana plants whose harvested buds could have fetched €6 million (US$7.2 million) in European markets.
The sites were illegally connected to the power grid to provide artificial light to the plants. Combined, the 13 warehouses used the equivalent of the average consumption of 1,177 homes, police said.
The investigation began in 2019 when the first parcels containing packaged marijuana were detected. Investigators found that the gang recruited shareholders with an angel investment of €100,000, allowing the group to quickly expand its chain of warehouses.