Local Mafias Exploit Proliferation of Pot Clubs in Pandemic-Besieged Barcelona

 In the midst of a pandemic, Barcelona has become famous for its 156 cannabis clubs, known as asociaciónes.  An asociación is a quiet place where you could buy and smoke marijuana, often grown by members, and only on the premises.  But now, many have become high-volume businesses and, police believe, fronts for drug mafias.  

With the collapse of tourism, the cannabis business is one of very few thriving in Catalonia, but beyond the low lights and chilled vibe of the associations, darker forces are in play.  An internal report by the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan police, claims that Catalonia is the epicenter of Europe’s illegal marijuana market and has become a net exporter of cannabis to other European countries.  While clubs are allowed to produce marijuana in proportion to their membership, mafias have used them as front organizations to provide legal cover for extensive networks of urban and rural growing operations.

With high profits and low risk (jail sentences rarely exceed two years) gangs from Europe are fighting one another to control the Catalonia market, says the report.  Over the past year police have broken up 34 criminal organizations connected to cannabis and destroyed 319 plantations.  Social acceptance of cannabis, depopulated rural areas and many empty apartments are facilitating the creation of plantations.  Police have uncovered indoor plantations with automated irrigation, remote-controlled thermostats and even odorless plants to avoid detection.   

According to Ramon Chacon, deputy chief of the crime squad, low prices and an ambiguous legal framework have made Spain the leading marijuana producer in Europe.  For years Spain has been the point of entry for Moroccan hashish, so the distribution network was already in place when the marijuana boom began.  

Police are destroying more than one million plants a year, mostly in Catalonia, but Chacon said this achieves little if they can’t get their hands on the profits.  .Around 70% of all Spain’s associations are in Catalonia, where cannabis consumption is higher than in the rest of the country, according to a National Drug Plan survey. Catalonia also hosts Spannabis, the international cannabis trade fair.  For many, the associations are a refuge and an oasis of calm during the pandemic.  it’s far too  easy, however,  to forget that these peaceful corners  of Barcelona are also part of a mafia-run narco-economy.