Seven cannabis growing facilities have been raided by Romania's DIICOT organized crime unit. Officers seized 30kg of cannabis plants, along with around 50 ecstasy tablets, 5g of cocaine and heroin and a crop of magic mushrooms.

The Romanian police said that Bucharest's Organized Crime Squad and DIICOT officers searched eight locations and made 12 arrests during the operations. The 12 arrested, in Bucharest, were aged between 20 and 45.

Modern growing methods were in use, including lighting, heating and irrigation systems, to intensively grow high yield cannabis plants. Police also found RON 7,300 (a little under EUR 1,700 ) and USD 220 in cash.

The police carried the operations over Tuesday and Wednesday (February 12 and 13) in Sector 2 and Sector 4 of Bucharest. Suspects can be detained for an initial 24 hours before a court appearance and police are expected to request that bail is not granted at a hearing scheduled for today (February 14 ).

Police have not announced an estimate of the street value of the seizure. The ecstasy would be worth around EUR 500 mark and the cocaine and heroin a further few hundred euros. However, the cannabis seized is potentially worth a lot more. It is difficult to estimate, as the 30kg weight is total plant mass, not just the buds, or flowering heads, which tend to be sold. Even a fraction of 30kg could be worth tens of thousands of euros.

editor@romania-insider.com

photo source: emcdda.europa.eu