Marijuana smuggling | Lampworkers working for cannabis smugglers: “They pay you what you want”

Two air conditioner installers required on ‘indoor’ plantations assure EL PERIÓDICO that these are increasingly black orders in the trade | Mossos warns of the corrupting power of drug money and talks about collusion between the legal and criminal structures.

seductive power black money As has been warned over the years, police officers who move marijuana have the capacity to corrupt the pillars of a democratic society, such as politicians or lawyers. Mossos d’Esquadra, but it also has the ability to attract less obvious economic sectors, such as shippers, lightbulb dealers or plumbers, who profit from Spain’s cannabis “boom” as suppliers of legal supplies or services to drug traffickers. This is how the cops describe it “collusion” between legal structures and criminal structures. EL PERIÓDICO from the Prensa Ibérica group interviewed two plumbers who admitted to installing air conditioners To cool ‘closed’ fields in Catalonia.

Working for cannabis nursery owners is “so sweet,” explains one of them. Organizations – and the most humble traders – are loyal customers. If they know they can count on the services of a plumber, they will always work with the same. “They can’t call anyone because they run the risk of finding out for you. his scam. They also pay “black”, “upfront” and “whatever you want”. “They don’t bargain,” he repeats.

hot fields

An ‘indoor’ planting artificially reproduces the climatic conditions in which the plants grow outdoors. It’s okay to fill a potting area. The drip irrigation system does not prepare either. The complicated thing is to replace the sun. they use it for sodium bulbs from 600 to 1,000 watts, They emit radiation similar to that of the sun. Each of these bulbs spends on a daily basis more electricity than a whole familyexplains Endesa inspection chieftherefore all – or almost all – of the facilities illegally entered the network and became one very serious electricity smuggling problem. They also generate a lot of heat. So much so that plants cannot grow without an air conditioner to cool them. This is where the figure of the assembler they went to before the plantation became operational comes into play.

The smugglers were installing the electrical installation by their own means. But they use licensed professionals for air conditioners. And although they “always go to the flats” before the marijuana is planted, they know they’re setting up for the dealers: the machines”large size”They want 3,000 or 4,000 refrigerated appliances for rooms that will settle for much less powerful air conditioners. And they often like to be hung three feet above the ground. They say working before marijuana grows reduces the risk of being investigated by the police. They try not to “maintain” because if they get caught in a police raid working next to factories this can “get in trouble”.

One of the two installers assures that these jobs are an undeclared bonus and that he will not stop doing them. The other, on the contrary, assures that the next time a trafficker contacts him, he will not accept the job in principle. Something will happen. “Absolutely, any loader in Catalonia Eventually one, two, three, or four coats of marijuana fall.“.

An emerging industry

Raul RodriguezCEO Federation of Gremis d’Instal·ladors de Catalunya (FEGiCAT)warns plumbers who are willing to install electrical wiring in a cannabis field and also connect illegally to the network of their exposure. expiry of license. In addition, in the event of an accident – ​​these products often cause fires – they also responsible. However, he acknowledges that air conditioner installers do not have to know how the customer will use the appliance. “If a kitchen seller sets up a kitchen and it’s used to cook drugs, it’s not the seller’s responsibility,” he says.

Also, the FEGiCAT executive doesn’t believe it’s a syndicate tempted by the cannabis black money as it’s currently experiencing significant growth: “Demand for renewable energy devices has outstripped supply, there are companies whose list has to wait months and is also one of the industries that pays their workers the best. ” said. “I don’t think they risk losing their license and being out of business like that,” he reasoned.

Collaboration with drug trafficking

Stronger is Endesa’s chief inspector, who has identified more and more professional marijuana facilities and stressed that accepting these jobs is “collaborating” with marijuana drug trafficking.

For moss, Catalonia has proven itself in recent years. main European production area and export give a stimulant. An interesting scenario developed by this newspaper in 2017 mafias International those who settled here to grow cannabis industrially, which they would later sell to the rest of Europe. The easy money provided by a drug prosecuted in Spain with more lenient laws than in other countries is convincing more and more people. citizens Y Business.