Dilip Kuner
POLICE have raided what they describe as Europe’s biggest cannabis farm that covered 67 hectares and had 415,000 plants potentially worth €100 million.
Guardia Civil became suspicious of the massive hemp plantation in Navarra, which its owner said was producing hemp for ‘industrial activity’.
Hemp and marihuana are the same species, but hemp has less than 0.3% THC (the active ingredient that give cannabis users a high). Police have not revealed what level of THC was in the plants.
When the Guardia Civil and Navarra regional police investigated they found that the owner was drying and shipping the plants to Switzerland and Italy, where they could potentially be refined and processed into CBD (cannabidiol) and other derivatives, which, once processed, would fetch €100 million on the market. Unrefined, the crop was worth €30 million. CBD can be made from both hemp and marihuana.
The production of CBD is illegal in Spain, claimed a police spokesman, although certain CBD products can be sold over the counter. It is most commonly used in Spain for skincare treatments.
CBD sold in Spain must contain less than 0.2% THC. Hemp has a wide range of legitimate industrial uses and can be used in around 25,000 different ways.
It is legal to grow in Spain, but must not be cultivated to produce CBD, claim police.
Officers made three arrests in Navarra and another two men are being investigated in the Basque Country, while the entire crop has been destroyed by police.
READ MORE:
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