The Policía Nacional arrested nine people as they masqueraded as Guardia Civil officers in order to rob an illegal marihuana plantation in Motril.
They had received a tip off in September about a possible marihuana plantation in a secluded area of Motril with difficult access and were consequently staking it out.
Just before dusk, they saw this group of men, all Spanish and aged between 17 and 39, with Guardia Civil vests etc, arrive and begin to harvest the crop of some 460 large plants.
When the suspects caught sight of the police officers, they tried to make a run for it across the surrounding countryside but were soon caught. One of them gave a false name but it turned out that he had two court orders out on him, one of which was to present himself at a prison to commence a jail sentence.
Once they had appeared before a magistrate, they were released pending trial, all but the one who should have been in prison, anyway. This time, however, he was escorted to the prison gates.
(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)
Patrick: the owner of the land could claim that he knew nothing about it and somebody must be illegally using his land, which is why they needed to catch somebody working the plantation but instead that caught somebody stealing the crop.
What about the real workers. I guess the police know where they live. ??