The people in charge of a cannabis club in Arrecife and two other people who supplied them with hashish and marijuana will be tried next week for crimes against public health and illicit association. The Prosecutor's Office is asking for sentences of between 4 and a half and 7 years in prison for them, depending on the facts imputed to each one.
The trial, which will be held before the Sixth Section of the Provincial Court, is scheduled to take place over two days, between Monday the 4th and Tuesday the 5th of October, with six defendants in the dock.
According to the indictment, the events began in October 2016, when J.C.P.D., A.S.G.G. and J.P.C.P. founded an association with address in Arrecife, approving its statutes and designating the first as president, the second as treasurer and the third as secretary. The association was registered in the Canary Islands establishing among its purposes “the study of hemp and its possible cultural, scientific and therapeutic applications”, “to avoid the danger to the health of its users inherent to the illegal cannabis market through activities aimed at preventing the risks associated with its use” and “to promote social debate on its legal situation and that of its consumers, as well as to assert constitutional rights”.
Almost a year later, in June 2017, they rented a premises where, according to the Prosecutor's Office, they allowed “access to substances that cause damage to health to an indiscriminate plurality of people”. Specifically, it states that anyone who “was a cannabis user” could join as an associate, as well as anyone who “had been diagnosed with a disease for which the therapeutic or palliative use of cannabinoids has been scientifically proven, was of legal age, was endorsed by a member and paid the fee set by the Board of Directors”.
They offered “various varieties” of marijuana and hashish
To dispense these substances, they had the collaboration of the also accused J.C.C., who helped distribute in the premises “both various varieties of marijuana and cannabis chocolates, as well as cigarettes with ready-made drugs, hashish and hashish oil”.
However, the indictment states that they lacked “any administrative authorization for the production and distribution of marijuana, and it is not recorded that a license had been requested from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products”, which is the “body authorized to do so”.
In total, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, they had a total of 330 members, when “none of the association's rules contemplated that the consumption of cannabis should be shared among the associates inside or outside the premises”, nor “did it contemplate the way in which the associates could obtain cannabis, nor a maximum withdrawal limit”.
Regarding the other two defendants, J.J.R.T. and Y.L.D.L., they were allegedly two of the suppliers who were in charge of supplying hashish and marijuana to the association's premises. At the time of the police operation, both were arrested in a vehicle in which they were carrying 299 cannabis resin acorns, which weighed 2.9 kilos and would have reached a value of 4,649 euros on the illicit market. In addition, when they were arrested, J.J.R.T. was carrying 615 euros in cash and Y.L.D.L. 200 euros, both sums being judicially seized.
Months receiving neighborhood complaints when the search took place
On May 17, 2018, the entry and search of the premises took place, which had been the subject of neighborhood complaints for months due to the “strong smell of marijuana” that they reported was coming from the establishment. “It was located in one of the most central areas of Arrecife and advertised with large illuminated signs,” the Prosecutor's Office emphasizes in its writing. Specifically, the club was located on Peñas del Chache street, under the name of La Oveja Verde.
During the search of the premises, agents of the National Police and the USCI of the Local Police of Arrecife found elements for weighing and cutting, as well as 2,287 euros of cash and “various narcotic substances distributed in small doses and classified in various containers, jars and bags”.
In total, they seized more than two kilos of hashish, hashish oil and marijuana valued at around 12,500 euros, according to the indictment.
For the three founders of the association, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for 7 years in prison for crimes against public health and illicit association, as well as a fine of 33,423 euros for each one (24,783 euros for the crime of drug trafficking and 8,640 for that of illicit association).
As for J.C.C, accused of collaborating in the sale of drugs in the premises, he faces a request for five and a half years in prison, also for crimes against public health and illicit association, and the same request for a fine.
Regarding their alleged suppliers, the Prosecutor's Office accuses them only of the crime against public health but “in the modality of notorious importance”, and requests 4 and a half years in prison for them. In addition, they face a request for a fine of 13,949 euros.
The Prosecutor's Office also asks that the sentence order “the dissolution of the illicit association, as well as the dissolution of the premises in which its de facto address is fixed”, and also the confiscation of the drugs and money seized during the police operation.