Spanish police said on Friday they caught over 55 tons of marijuana, the largest amount of the drug ever seized in the country and weighing more than an adult humpback whale.
Eight farms have been dismantled in the northeastern region of Catalonia and 20 people were detained on suspected electricity fraud and offenses against public health, police said in a statement.
All the farms were dissimulated as supposedly legal hemp plantations and registered as owned by a trading company and located among other warehouses with legal industrial activity.
SPANISH CIVIL GUARD SEIZES ‘LARGEST STASH OF MARIJUANA DISCOVERED’
In total, agents seized 57 tons of marijuana, with more than 187,000 plants and 19 tonnes of buds between June and October.
In a separate bust earlier this month, Spain announced it had seized 35 tons of marijuana, which set a record at the time.
In June, the Spanish Tax Agency said, in reference to a different drug operation, that cannabis was worth “between $2,374.43 and $2,580.90 per kilogram”.
At that rate, 55 tons could have an estimated total worth could reach $129 million.
