The new section 3 of article 255 of the Penal Code stipulates that electricity fraud, when committed to supply facilities for the cultivation, processing, or trafficking of drugs, will incur a prison sentence of six to eighteen months or a fine of twelve to twenty-four months. This modification is part of the recently approved multi-offender organic law.
Sources from the Government Subdelegation in Seville have indicated that this reform provides an effective penal tool to address the phenomenon of indoor marijuana plantations, which require massive electricity consumption and are usually powered by illegal connections. The combination of this crime with drug cultivation will allow sentences to exceed two years in prison, opening the door to effective incarceration.
Since his appointment, the Government subdelegate in Seville, Francisco Toscano Rodero, has been aware of the problem of marijuana cultivation in various neighborhoods of the capital and municipalities in the province. This illegal activity not only generates insecurity but also causes a serious deterioration of coexistence and risks to public safety and health, with fires, electrical overloads, and blackouts resulting from the increase in cannabis plantations.
“"Police effectiveness was weakened by two factors: legal difficulties in authorizing searches for crimes with low penalties, and the limited nature of convictions, which rarely led to imprisonment for those convicted."
The government subdelegates of Seville and Granada—the two Andalusian provinces most affected by electricity fraud associated with marijuana cultivation—brought these issues to the Upper House. Following this impetus, the spokesperson for the Socialist Group in the Senate, Juan Espadas, along with the senator for Granada, José Entrena, incorporated the amendment that has now been definitively approved in the Congress.
This reform, which came into force last Friday, April 10, after its publication in the BOE on Thursday, April 9, provides institutions with a reinforced penal tool to combat a criminal phenomenon with enormous social impact. The actions of the Seville Subdelegation have been decisive in placing this issue at the center of the legislative debate and channeling the concerns of the neighborhoods of the Andalusian capital towards a concrete and effective solution.
