The Guardia Civil, as part of Operation STAWRAS, has raided and closed a cannabis club in Puerto Rico, within the municipality of Mogán (Gran Canaria), which was being used as a point of sale for drugs, and not as a member’s club or association as it should be.
According to the official police press release, agents arrested a 23-year-old man who managed the club, and two other men, aged 22 and 29, both with criminal records, who worked there.
The investigation began after the launch of a new initiative by the Ministry del Interior to combat the unlawful sale and distribution of narcotics in leisure areas and venues, called the Strategic Police Response Plan to Drug Consumption and Retail Trafficking.
The aim of this initiative, according to the Guardia Civil, was to respond to a request made by business owners in the hospitality sector linked to tourism who had complained about people selling drugs to the public using a cannabis club as a front for their operation.
Officers were able to verify that a large number of people, mainly foreign tourists, were visiting the cannabis club in Puerto Rico for just a few minutes to buy marijuana, and on several occasions, they were taken in by two young PR’s who were out on the street to attract customers, all of which is illegal and goes against how a registered Cannabis Club is allowed to operate as a member’s club only.
The club was also advertised on internet search engines and had its own profile on social media, with opening hours, reviews from customers, and explanatory videos giving the exact location of the premises where it carried out its activities.
Once the investigations were concluded and officers had gathered sufficient evidence, they informed the Judicial Authority of the results and requested a search warrant for the headquarters of the cannabis club and the arrest of individuals linked to the alleged crime under investigation.
After it was granted, the person in charge of the club was arrested at the moment he was about to enter it, and a search of the premises was carried out in which they seized 732.8 grams of marijuana buds (of up to twenty different varieties), 420 euros in cash, seventeen manufactured cigarettes made with alleged marijuana, and 13 chocolate brownies made with marijuana, and various other drug related items.
Finally, the detainees and the seized substances were made available to the competent Instruction Court of San Bartolomé de Tirajana along with the police report so theta they could face trial.
