The Mossos d'Esquadra propose punishing crimes linked to marijuana trafficking with harsher penalties. In a report prepared by the Headquarters of the force to which La Vanguardia has had access, the Catalan police propose legal modifications to more effectively combat marijuana trafficking, one of the biggest phenomena they face.
The document has been submitted to the Ministry of the Interior to analyze it and promote it at a political level if it is considered appropriate. The study was commissioned by the chief commissioner, Eduard Sallent, given the growing concern to stop a phenomenon that, as the Mossos have been warning for years, is on its way to becoming entrenched and turning Catalonia into a narco-economy.
One of the proposals included in the report is to increase the penalties for cannabis trafficking and apply an aggravating circumstance to the associated crimes that are currently punishable with the payment of a simple fine. They refer to the occupation of floors that are used to install plantations, the fraud of electricity and the diversion of water. And they also propose the creation of a crime or an aggravating circumstance that currently does not exist, such as the trafficking and transportation of hydrocarbons, a common practice to supply drug boats.
Currently, the occupation of a property that is not considered a residence is punishable by a fine of three to six months even if it is occupied to install a plantation. Tapping the light also carries a fine of three to twelve months and diverting the flow of water to irrigate the crop is punishable by a fine of one to three months. In Catalonia alone, 37% of the electricity defrauded corresponds to marijuana plantations, which represents losses of 2,000 million euros per year, according to Endesa data. In the last five years, cases of supply manipulation have increased by 35% and cases linked to cannabis plantations have increased by 70%. For this reason, the Mossos emphasize that “it would be convenient” to increase the penalties for these associated crimes by incorporating them as an aggravating circumstance of the crime of marijuana trafficking. “We have to put greater obstacles for criminals and make it more difficult for them,” emphasizes a commissioner from the Headquarters.
According to the report, the low penalty for these crimes makes Catalonia a golden destination for the settlement of criminal organizations. In addition to the good weather conditions, a large park of empty apartments to install plantations and the excellent geographical location with links to the rest of Europe, the penalties for trafficking marijuana are lower than in neighboring countries. In the document, the Mossos compare the sentences for this type of crimes with the legislation of France, Portugal and Italy and come to the conclusion that the low penalty is “one of the factors that has contributed to Catalonia becoming a favorable criminal environment for the establishment of criminal networks dedicated to drug trafficking.”
The report recalls that in Spain the penalties for growing and trafficking marijuana are one to three years in prison because it is considered that this substance does not cause serious damage to health, a difference with the rest of the legislation in the environment that equates the damage from marijuana to any drug. Furthermore, the document highlights that the courts usually impose the penalty in its lower part – around one year in prison – considering that the fact of trafficking in marijuana lacks sufficient significance. However, behind the majority of cases faced by the Mossos there are large, well-structured criminal organizations that move a lot of personnel and a lot of money and that lead to episodes of violence between rival groups, narco assaults, with firearms.
Last year, the Catalan police dismantled 52 criminal organizations dedicated to marijuana trafficking and intervened in 429 plantations and a total of 522,000 plants. Spanish legislation provides for penalties ranging from four and a half to ten years for those who are part of a criminal organization that traffics marijuana. In France, however, the penalties are higher. The neighboring country is the main consumer of cannabis in Europe and its Penal Code imposes sentences of up to 20 years in prison on anyone who produces illegal substances, which rises to 30 years if carried out within the framework of a criminal organization. The fact that France is the main consumer makes Catalonia a very valuable strategic point for organizations since they can plant marijuana and distribute it to France without the risk of obtaining greater punishment than if they did so in any French city. In Italy, its legislation is also more restrictive than the Spanish one. The penalties for trafficking range between six and 20 years in prison and association to commit a crime carries penalties ranging from one year in prison to 15. In Portugal, on the other hand, the penalties are similar to those in Spain and there is also a difference between dangerousness of the drug. Establishes penalties of one to five years for the trafficking of less dangerous ones; from two to ten years on average; and those of high danger from four to twelve years in prison. For criminal organizations the sentences range between ten and 25 years.
Given all this, the Mossos consider that the cost-benefit relationship between the risk involved in committing the crime and the profits that criminals obtain is unbalanced. To give an example, for a plantation enabled inside a 50 m2 apartment in which they tap the light, organizations can obtain a profit of 180,000 euros for each of the three harvests they make per year. In total 540,000 euros. These would be the profits if they sell the marijuana by the kilo. If they do it by grams, the benefit increases to 452,250 per harvest. Given this very favorable situation for drug traffickers, the Mossos propose modifying and updating the witness protection law, which dates back to 1994, to make it easier to provide informants. They consider that the regulations are obsolete, that no “true witness protection program” has been developed and “we should insist that the legislator modify the law to be more effective in the fight against organized crime.”
The Mossos, as they have done in previous reports, demand clarity to know the legality of certain cannabis-related products that appear on the market and that lack regulation. Thus, the sale of seeds and growing materials lacks supervision. The same goes for the sale of CBD products, such as candy and other edibles containing CBD or THC that do not have “health control.” And finally, they emphasize that the activity of cannabis clubs must be regularized, “either to give them legal coverage or to prevent their establishment.” Remember that these associations are not regulated by any state or regional regulations and that the only current regulations are in municipal ordinances or plans. The lack of regulation prevents them from carrying out inspections and control tasks.
