A TARRAGONA man who grew and sold cannabis 'to top up his pension' has been arrested and at least 290 marihuana plants have been confiscated.
The accused, 63, said he was struggling to make ends meet on his State retirement pension and had been dealing home-grown hash on the side to supplement his income.
Guardia Civil officers found enough plants to create 7.2 kilos of the drug in a house in the offender's home town, El Pla de Manlleu.
The property was in the name of a person who had died, and the cannabis farmer was the deceased's son-in-law.
The smell of the plants, together with alerts from the electricity board about exceptionally-high consumption that could not be accounted for, led police to launch a probe in January which culminated this week with the discovery of an underground plantation and laboratory.
The arrested man is said to have hooked up illegally to the electricity supply to enable him to use it without paying the bills.
Generally, police are not concerned about ordinary householders who grow a plant or two for personal consumption, but selling the fruits of these crops or exchanging them for goods or services is considered 'dealing' and is a criminal offence.
Consuming or carrying cannabis in public areas, such as in the street, is also a crime.
In the case of the El Pla de Manlleu man, the fact he had as many as 290 marihuana plants was enough for police to see he was dealing, even before they found evidence of this.
But in a case two years ago, a man arrested in Pedreguer (Alicante province) after 1,200 plants were found on his land successfully appealed his conviction by showing they were purely for his own personal use.
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