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Date Published: 15/06/2021
ARCHIVED - Couple absolved of drug charges in Almeria as Guardia entered property without warrant
Officers found a large quantity of marihuana plants in a property in Roquetas de Mar, but the evidence has been declared invalid as the police entered with no authorization
A judge in Almeria has absolved a man and woman who were facing four and a half years in prison, after the Guardia Civil entered a property in Roquetas de Mar without a warrant and found 655 marihuana plants.
The incident occurred on July 7, 2018, following an eviction, when the head of a financial entity notified the authorities of a possible marihuana plantation in a ground floor apartment.
Once the officers arrived at the building, they were able to see into the patio of the property through a window in the communal hallway, where they spotted different materials and items typically used in the cultivation of marihuana.
The police knocked on the door of the flat but received no answer and they then proceeded to remove some masking tape which was covering the peephole on the door. Through the hole, the officers saw a large marihuana plantation.
They then forced open the door to the property, without a proper warrant or authorization, and found 655 marihuana plants and different kinds of machinery used in the cultivation of this plant.
However, the judge has ruled that the man and woman cannot be charged with any crime, as they were out of the municipality at the time and there wasn’t any indication that they were residing at the apartment when the drugs were found.
In addition, the judge specified that the officers entered the property with no authorization despite the fact that there was no urgent risk of concealment or loss of evidence, meaning that the evidence obtained from the property is not valid.
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