Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Police in Valencia have shut down a cannabis club front allegedly used to sell drugs to tourists, detaining the 24-year-old owner on suspicion of a public health offence.
The National Police said the venue was promoted online as a private cannabis club, but investigators believe its real activity was the sale and distribution of cannabis and derivatives to customers who were not limited to a closed group of members.
According to police, the inquiry began after the local police in Valencia passed on information in late August about the business’s online advertising. Officers later gathered evidence that the premises was operating with an appearance of legality while attracting foreign visitors through the internet.
How the investigation unfolded
The force said plain-clothes officers found that would-be members were asked to pay a monthly fee, which gave access to cannabis products. They also said customers could buy without formally joining the club, and that staff supplied an opaque bag so the drugs could be taken away more discreetly.
Police said the operation was aimed in part at tourists who had found the place online and travelled there specifically to buy cannabis during their stay in the city.
The investigation was carried out by officers from the National Police’s district centre unit, working from the initial tip-off from Valencia Local Police. The owner was the only person arrested in this phase of the case.
The alleged offence remains a criminal allegation and the suspect is presumed innocent unless and until a court rules otherwise.
Part of a wider drugs crackdown
The case comes as police continue to target low-level drug dealing and disguised sales points in tourist-heavy areas along Spain’s Mediterranean coast. CNS has also reported on recent police action against drug supply points elsewhere on the Valencia coast, including a separate raid on a heroin and cocaine sales point in the city and a wider seizure of ecstasy and cocaine in Sagunto.
Police have not said whether more arrests are expected, and the investigation remains open.
