Talavera de la Reina.- The National Police has launched in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) Operation “Águila”, a police investigation with the spotlight placed on a network of illegal marijuana crops concentrated in the neighborhood of the Patronage of San José. So far, eight indoor plantations have been dismantled and a total of eleven people have been arrested, including those responsible for the exploitation of the plantations. The operation remains open to clarify the alleged illegal origin of the numerous effects found in the records and it is not ruled out that there will be further arrests.

The starting point of this investigation is in March of this year, when the National Police agents specialized in the investigation and repression of crimes against public health in the demarcation of Talavera de la Reina and its region, found signs pointing to the existence of a conglomerate of illegal cannabis crops in the neighborhood of Patrocinio de San José, concentrated in homes located within a radius of 500 meters.

The first investigations confirmed that the network had at least eleven properties suspected of housing “indoor” plantations or being used as drug “crèches”. This illicit activity was supported by a multitude of people related to family and personal ties with those responsible for the crops, who carried out surveillance work 24 hours a day to detect the police presence. In addition, they had a clandestine electrical infrastructure designed to meet the high energy demand required by crops.

A police deployment to enter the 11 properties at once

Once all those responsible for the suspicious properties were identified, a large-scale police device was organized to carry out, simultaneously, eleven house searches. As a result of this operation, eleven people were arrested, as well as 1,952 marijuana plants, 1,273 kilograms of hashish (presented in tablets and acorns), 40 kilograms of marijuana buds, 33.8 grams of cocaine, 33.5 grams of MDMA, 4,845 euros in cash, various white weapons, four laser devices, several detonating firearms and a C90 counter-car rocket launcher that has already been hit, catalogued as a weapon of war.

In addition, the illegal hooks of these properties to the electricity supply network were located and canceled, thus neutralizing the serious and manifest fire risk that they posed for the families of the neighboring homes due to the overload of the network.

Of the eleven detainees, who had made drug trafficking their main modus vivendi and main source of economic income, eight had a history. In addition, one of them had two search warrants in force, detention in prison by the judicial authority related to drug trafficking, so that once it was handed over to the judiciary, it was ordered to enter a prison immediately.

The discovery of numerous stolen objects keeps the investigation open

During the records, mainly working tools. Some of them have already been returned to their rightful owners, who had previously reported their theft by forcefully stealing their vehicles. However, the investigation is still open and there are still some items to be studied, so it is not ruled out that there will be further arrests.

This investigation, carried out by the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade, has also involved units of the Citizen Security Brigade and Scientific Police of the Local Police Station of Talavera de la Reina, as well as two teams of the Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR) of the Provincial Police Station of Toledo and support staff attached to the Coordination Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) of the Secretary of State for Security.