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The Oporto Court of Appeal increased the sentences of the Chinese couple convicted of having kept a mega cannabis greenhouse in a warehouse in Maia from seven to nine years in prison. They must also pay the State about 640 thousand euros.
The couple, assisted by a third individual, maintained an authentic factory for the intensive cultivation of cannabis, installed in a warehouse in Maia, where more than a ton of drugs were seized. It was a gold mine for a couple of Chinese nationality, who declared pennies to the Treasury, despite having passed through their bank accounts, in the last four years, 675 thousand euros.
The Public Ministry (MP) accused the couple and the third individual who lived in the drug trafficking warehouse. It also demanded the delivery of that amount to the State.
The panel of judges that held the trial in the Court of Matosinhos decided to sentence the couple to seven years in prison and the assistant to six. However, he denied the MP’s claim to decree the loss of an incongruous patrimony.
But Relação has now reversed the decision of the Matosinhos judges and ordered the couple to pay the state a total of 640,000 euros.
In July of last year, PSP researchers were surprised by the size and technical sophistication of the greenhouse they found in the premises of a former dry cleaner. Hundreds of light bulbs, exhaust fans, thermometers and cannabis plants were seized. The greenhouse was divided into four spaces, each with plants in different stages of maturation and growth. The cannabis was then dried and vacuum packed in plastic bags to prevent the spread of the drug’s odor.
The benefit was almost total because, in addition to the initial investment in lamps and technologies for the intensive production of cannabis, which consumes a lot of energy, individuals did not spend a penny on electricity. The equipment was fed through an illegal connection, from a processing station. EDP estimates the loss at around three million euros. This process will be judged separately.
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