INFO EUROPE 1 - Drug trafficking: the lucrative business of "cannabis farms"

William Molinié 06:09, August 29, 2022

NEWS EUROPE 1

In April 2021, in an interview with

, Emmanuel Macron made the fight against narcotics "the mother of all battles".

In the process, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, beefed up his "narcotics plan" with police reinforcements and systematic "harassment" of deal points.

2,778 traffic dismantled in the Paris conurbation in less than a year

Regularly, the "first cop of France" boasts of its results, as during the ceremony of the liberation of Paris last Wednesday: 2,778 traffic dismantled in the Paris conurbation in less than a year, + 112% fixed fines drawn up, 50% more suspects arrested for drug trafficking compared to last year.

But faced with this police pressure, the traffickers, as usual, adapt and circumvent it.

To avoid seizures of goods in ports or on the road, some of them produce "locally" and grow their own production to directly supply their deal point.

Cannabiculture thus appears to be an "accessible and profitable culture", describes a recent note from the central direction of the judicial police (DCPJ) obtained by Europe 1.

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To support their observation, the authors of this document establish that a six-foot plantation produces around 1.44 kilos of grass – at the rate of two to five harvests per year – thus generating an annual turnover of around 14,400 euros.

This makes it possible to make a very quick return on the 500 euros initially invested in the purchase of seeds and equipment sold legally online, or even directly in stores, called "growshops", of which there are 300 in France.

Millions of euros at stake

Profits, high, can easily soar.

Thus, for a plantation of 1,000 plants which would produce 240 kilos of grass each year, the turnover of a "cannabis farm" is estimated by specialized investigators at 1.02 million euros per year for the sale wholesale, up to 2.4 million euros for retail.

If the image of Épinal of the sixty-eighters cultivating in their garden a few cannabis plants for their personal consumption still exists, organized criminal groups have industrialized production, sometimes even calling on the know-how of Dutch experts - former traffickers or producers – who come to France to set up their cannabis cultivation.

Farms with anti-theft systems

Regularly, the police discover "farms" of up to several thousand feet located within disused industrial areas or isolated houses.

This industrialization is now so widespread that traffickers provide theft protection devices such as "intrusion alarm and video surveillance systems as well as traps and hire surveillance personnel", note the specialized investigators in another recent note. .

Alliances with Vietnamese gardeners

To counter the action of the police and try to go unnoticed, they even invest in sound and heat insulation devices, or even odor filters, so that these sites become almost undetectable.

"The dismantling of industrial cannabis cultivation sites also almost systematically reveals the presence of heavy weaponry [which] aims in particular to protect cannabis cultivation from other criminal groups who are engaged in the destruction of competing sites", continue the analysts of the judicial police.

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Alliances with Vietnamese gardeners

The profiles of the traffickers who have embarked on cannabis cultivation in France are generally those that are usually found in drug trafficking encysted in the delinquency of the city.

The production of indoor cannabis was also "a substitute activity" during the health crisis, note the authors of this note.

The police also observed the opportunistic arrival in the area of ​​other groups from local banditry or the Traveler community.

Some Parisian traffickers also make alliances with the Vietnamese community, whose nationals are hired as managers or gardeners directly on "farms".

"By locating production in this way, traffickers free themselves from import networks. They also choose their plants, some of which are genetically modified and produce a product with a much higher THC level and which will be sold at a higher price", analyzes an investigator from the north of France where the phenomenon began to appear several years ago.

He concludes: "This cannabis, which is increasingly concentrated in THC, is a major issue for the health of consumers."