Portugese judicial police has carried out raids on medicinal cannabis companies suspected to be linked to criminal organizations. Over 60 search and seizure warrants were served, of what the majority in Portugal itself, and several suspects were arrested.
With a post on Facebook, the PJ (Policia Judiciaria) shared some more info on what they called 'operation Erva Daninha': "The National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking of the Judicial Police arrested several suspects of belonging to a criminal group dedicated to the introduction of large quantities of cannabis into several European and African markets. 64 search and seizure warrants were served from north to south of the country and also on the island of Madeira, and another six in Spain, one in Bulgaria and another in Cyprus."
"The investigations revealed that the criminal organization, aware of the flaws in the inspection and control system for exports of medicinal cannabis in Portugal, acquired pharmaceutical companies, then created commercial companies licensed for the wholesale trade, import and export of medicinal cannabis, ending up, in reality, sending several thousand kilos of cannabis to illicit markets using false documentation and certificates", the PJ shared.
The investigation began in early 2022 in close collaboration and coordination with the Spanish police and judicial authorities.
When asked for comments, a grower who wished to remain anonymous, said that most of the turmoil was created by fabricated media hysteria, which began pointing fingers at companies that hadn't done anything wrong and suddenly found themselves needing to defend their reputations.
But other growers disagree. Nuno Martens from medical cannabis company Takodana shared he was calm about the situation, and in fact he said he very much welcomed the ongoing investigation. "I don't get why people are scared about this. It's a good thing the PJ is doing these raids. If there are things that need to be investigated, then it's good they are. It means that there are laws the industry needs to comply with."
Another grower pointed out that the import and export documents companies in Portugal receive are in an editable format, meaning they could have been easily forged - allowing fraudulent players to import or export more than they were licensed for, since cross-referencing was rarely carried out. According to this grower, the authorities eventually caught on to this flaw in the system and began investigating the companies exploiting this vulnerability in the Portuguese medical cannabis industry.