Two jailed for cannabis farm at Swedish school
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 16 Jul, 2015 CET.
Updated: Thu 16 Jul 2015 15:40 CET
Eight months after 570 cannabis plants were discovered at a disused school in Lysekil in western Sweden, two men have been sent to prison.
The men are the first to face jail since a series of raids on potential drug farms in Sweden and Denmark over the winter.
One was sentenced to three years in prison, with the second suspect jailed for two and a half years.
Gothenburg District Court heard that the pair had helped cultivate the plants at a factory inside an old school.
According to regional newspaper GT, the 570 plants were found by police when they searched the property on December 2nd in 2014, enough to produce around 31 kilograms of marijuana.
The stash is among the biggest found in Sweden in recent years.
"They have...taken care of the plants, giving them water and fertilizer and then tending, harvesting and drying the plants," prosecutor Håkan Larsson told the newspaper ahead of the court's verdict.
He said that the building had been specially adapted to grow the cannabis, to create a warm and humid environment and said that the convicted men had demonstrated a high level of organization designed to facilitate extensive drug production.
Police inspector Dan Windt, who led the investigation, added: "It is the most comprehensive initiative that we have undertaken together - criminal police, a task force and other investigators - in many years when it comes to drug crime."
Another 13 people have been questioned in relation to several other alleged cannabis factories in the area, after police found several homes fitted with suspicious lighting and ventilation.
Officers have previously raised concerns about gangs growing and selling drugs in the area, which is situated around 130km north of Gothenburg.
Sentencing for the crimes at the disused school in Lysekil took place on Wednesday afternoon, grabbing headlines across Sweden by Thursday morning.
Sweden has a 'zero tolerance' approach to drugs. The Nordic country criminalized illicit drug use in 1988, following a two-year attempt to introduce a more tolerant approach that was considered a failure by authorities.
Anyone even suspected of being 'high' can be detained and given a compulsory urine test. If positive, they are slapped with a criminal charge and must stand trial.
Comments
See Also
The men are the first to face jail since a series of raids on potential drug farms in Sweden and Denmark over the winter.
One was sentenced to three years in prison, with the second suspect jailed for two and a half years.
Gothenburg District Court heard that the pair had helped cultivate the plants at a factory inside an old school.
According to regional newspaper GT, the 570 plants were found by police when they searched the property on December 2nd in 2014, enough to produce around 31 kilograms of marijuana.
The stash is among the biggest found in Sweden in recent years.
"They have...taken care of the plants, giving them water and fertilizer and then tending, harvesting and drying the plants," prosecutor Håkan Larsson told the newspaper ahead of the court's verdict.
He said that the building had been specially adapted to grow the cannabis, to create a warm and humid environment and said that the convicted men had demonstrated a high level of organization designed to facilitate extensive drug production.
Police inspector Dan Windt, who led the investigation, added: "It is the most comprehensive initiative that we have undertaken together - criminal police, a task force and other investigators - in many years when it comes to drug crime."
Another 13 people have been questioned in relation to several other alleged cannabis factories in the area, after police found several homes fitted with suspicious lighting and ventilation.
Officers have previously raised concerns about gangs growing and selling drugs in the area, which is situated around 130km north of Gothenburg.
Sentencing for the crimes at the disused school in Lysekil took place on Wednesday afternoon, grabbing headlines across Sweden by Thursday morning.
Sweden has a 'zero tolerance' approach to drugs. The Nordic country criminalized illicit drug use in 1988, following a two-year attempt to introduce a more tolerant approach that was considered a failure by authorities.
Anyone even suspected of being 'high' can be detained and given a compulsory urine test. If positive, they are slapped with a criminal charge and must stand trial.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.