Blagoevgrad. 20 tonnes of cannabis have been found in a police operation against drug production and distribution in Petrich, Border Police Director Svetlan Kichikov said at a briefing, Focus Radio has reported. Since August 14, when the operation began, the police have found and destroyed several fields. A helicopter has been used to detect the fields from the air, as the terrain is very difficult and there is limited access. The plantations were mainly located in state forests, in hard-to-reach areas. They were small fields, with 50-150 plants each. Most detainees are known to the police. The police continue searching for other fields.
A kg of dried cannabis, obtained from roughly 10 kg of raw cannabis, costs between BGN 3,000 and 5,000, Nikolay Hadzhiev, head of the Interior Ministry’s regional department in Blagoevgrad, said. He explained that the area of Petrich is favourable for growing those plants. The plantations are mostly located in the mountains of Belasitsa and Ograzhden.