Massive home-grown marijuana bust

FOUR men were detained for growing marijuana in Altea and Polop as police dismantled two plantations with 2,390 plants.

The operation was carried out in two phases after the National Police received a tipoff that a 53-year-old Dutch national with a previous record was cultivating marijuana in Altea. He and a Pole aged 36, were arrested as they tended to 920 intensively- grown plants in a hydroponics installation hidden behind shelving.

Some weeks later, police launched another operation in Polop.  This time they found 1,470 plants, at different stages of development, in a garage equipped as a greenhouse.  Two more Dutch nationals, aged 24 and 28, were arrested in this second raid.

Both plantations were equipped with a sophisticated growing system which made use of un-metered electricity. The four men now face energy fraud charges as well as drugs offences.