Spanish Police Raid Europe's Largest Marijuana Plantation, Destroy Plants Worth IDR 1.5 Trillion

JAKARTA - Spanish authorities have destroyed 415.000 hemp plants worth up to 100 million euros, in an operation to dismantle what police said Wednesday was Europe's largest cannabis plantation.

In addition, the authorities also confiscated about 50 tons of dried plants in warehouses for processing into cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound that is increasingly being used to treat anxiety, insomnia, and other ailments.

Located in the northern region of rural Navarre, the plantation is spread over 11 fields with a combined area of 67 hectares (166 hectares), the Guardia Civilian force said in a statement.

While the sale and consumption of CBD is legal throughout Spain and much of Europe, Spanish law still prohibits the cultivation of the cannabis plant for anything other than industrial purposes, such as for textiles and seeds, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Growing hemp for conversion to CBD or other derivatives remains a crime in Spain.

Three people were arrested as a result of an operation that began in mid-2021, when police discovered one of the fields.

Guardia Civil said the plantation owners initially presented the farm as a legal operation to produce industrial cannabis, but later discovered plans to export large quantities to Italy and Switzerland for processing into CBD.