By Alex Watkins
AN INVESTIGATION into a property rental company for alleged money laundering led to two people being arrested on suspicion of drug dealing in the municipality of Jacarilla in the Vega Baja area of Alicante province.
The suspects are a couple, a man and a woman who were growing marijuana in a house which was supplied with electricity from an illegal connection to the grid, according to a National Police spokesman.
Since many investigations into money laundering linked to criminal gangs concern the proceeds from dealing drugs, officers suspected there may be a marijuana plantation inside the address in Jacarilla and set up discreet surveillance.
This soon established that the couple were living there and that the property was ideal for growing cannabis, since it was the ideal size, was in a quiet area, and the occupants hardly ever went out, and when they did, they did so in vehicles making manoeuvres to check if they were being followed.
A search warrant was obtained from the courts in Orihuela and officers entering the house found 464 cannabis sativa plants at various stages of growth, ‘which indicated industrial production on a large scale’, the spokesman alleged.
There was no electricity contract for the house and the connection to supply the plantation has not been made in a professional manner.
Furthermore, the officers found a semi-automatic pistol with an illegible serial number and ammunition that was ready to fire.
The man and the woman, both Spanish and aged 35 and 29 respectively, are accused of drug dealing, electricity fraud and illegal possession of weapons.
