Vuelta broadcast helicopter busts illegal marijuana grow-op on rooftop
Three days after Stage 8 finished in Igualada, police seized 40 weed plants but the owners are still at large
On Saturday, a reduced breakaway contested the win on Stage 8 of the Vuelta a España through the streets of Igualada, the capital of the Anoia comarca agricultural region of Catalonia. The broadcast helicopter distributed images across the world of the sprint after the 167 km stage which started in Valls and was won by German Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb). Viewers had a birds-eye perspective of the action with a view of the swimming pools, schoolyards and roofs of the city. The images also revealed something else in the last kilometre, an illegal marijuana grow-up on a rooftop as first reported by ARA.
Three days after the stage finish, Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra police force seized 40 marijuana plants at the property. The police already had intel of the grow-up with neighbours telling law enforcement the people residing in the apartment building who were responsible for the plants had vacated the premise, leaving their furniture in the street.
The suspects are still at large and no arrests were made in the police operation. In Spain, growing marijuana for self-consumption is not illegal but the law does not specifically outline how many plants an individual can have. The penalty for illegally cultivating or growing an illicit drug in places visible to the public can come with a fine ranging from ‎€600 to ‎€30,000.
