A record quantity of narcotic substances worth €1.4 million is seized, a 24-year-old Albanian is arrested

The German police arrested a 24-year-old Albanian yesterday. He was responsible for taking care of narcotic plants. Police seized drugs worth around €1.4 million.

Officers entered the building where he was staying and found a large number of narcotic plants and a drying system that consumed a great deal of energy, along with 140 kilograms of cannabis flowers. German media report that the narcotic substance was intended to be sold on the legal market.

Full article from UHZ ONLINE

On January 22, a giant indoor cannabis plantation that had already been harvested was discovered in a former stable in Tastungen (Eichsfeld district). “This is the largest marijuana seizure to date in northern Thuringia,” said Detlef Grabs, head of the Nordhausen Criminal Police, at a press conference on Tuesday. Police seized drugs worth around €1.4 million. Part of it, about 50 kilograms, was presented by police officers in giant plastic bags during the press conference. Criminal Police believe the marijuana was intended to be sold on the legal market.

In Tastungen, police arrested a 24-year-old Albanian citizen. The cannabis gardener is currently being held in pre-trial detention at Tonna prison. “Given the size of the plantation, we assume that at least four other gardeners were involved,” Grabs said. It is still unclear who they are; traces need to be analyzed further. The arrested man is not speaking about the organizers behind the operation.

Albanians operate several illegal plantations

The Tastungen case adds to a whole series of similar cases. Last year, two indoor plantations were discovered in houses in Nordhausen. There, too, a gang from Albania was caught. The same applies to a similar case in Voigstedt, in the Kyffhäuser district. According to Grabs, this shows that something has changed in recent years: whereas previously it was mainly Vietnamese groups involved in the drug trade, today it is primarily Albanians. Police are not entirely certain about the reasons, but Grabs suspects that higher profits and lighter sentences are why Albanians prefer to cultivate drugs on a large scale here rather than in Albania.

Electricity theft exposes the plantation

In this case, the lead came from a solar panel operator who had an installation at the old stable in Tastungen. An electricity bill of €130,000 made him suspicious. He suspected large-scale electricity theft. The team led by Chief Inspector Domenic Hesse went to the site. The windows and doors of the old stable in the secluded agricultural area were completely closed and not visible from the outside. With a search warrant obtained from the Mühlhausen Public Prosecutor’s Office, officers entered the building and found a large number of already harvested plants as well as an energy-intensive drying system with 140 kilograms of cannabis flowers. The 24-year-old Albanian was arrested at the scene.

What role does the owner of the stable play?

The information from the solar panel operator came just in time. “We assume that a few days later the property would have been cleared out. The building is for sale,” Grabs said. The role of the stable’s owner remains unclear. “We are trying to clarify that now. The illegal plantation is estimated to have been operating there since April 2025,” said Domenic Hesse.

According to Benedikt Ballhausen, spokesperson for the Mühlhausen Public Prosecutor’s Office, the arrested Albanian faces a severe prison sentence. According to him, the current discovery represents a major success for law enforcement authorities in the fight against the drug mafia in northern Thuringia. Especially at a time of staff shortages, such a success is attributed above all to the commitment of the Criminal Police.

“KORÇA BOOM”