HSO 2020 Grow Off

[MR magoo]

@Fitzy yup. both Dinafem and HSO shut down, some were arrested. this is fairly old news, don't know what's happening now?

 

[Dr Fluff]

I new about the loss I didn't hear about his shit getting raided its really sad that people are being punished for partaking in nature I hope it doesn't amount to anything and he gets back to doing wat he loves. @HSO-Mark if you need nething we are here my man sending good vibes and karma ur way.

LA MOTA, DINAFEM AND HUMBOLDT SEEDS VICTIMS OF GUARDA CIVILE OPERATION
The police intervention of one of the largest cannabis seed banks leaves the entire industry speechless. The Spanish Medicines Agency (AEDM) mandated the Guardia Civil to carry out the operation, but also suspended a scientific project that the company was carrying out with the University of the Basque Country. At the request of the investigating judge and the anti-drug prosecution, the largest Spanish banks Dinafem, Mota and Humboldt Seeds of the POT SISTEMAK SL group are forced to cease their activities. Dinafem, which exports to around twenty countries, reached a turnover of 18 million euros in 2019.


This intervention puzzled a flourishing sector which considers its activity legal, protected by the Single United Nations Convention on Narcotic Drugs which excludes seeds from drug control. The operation, called Inxer-Toro classified secret, was carried out between September 15 and 17 in Guipúzcoa and Navarre with the arrest of 14 people, 17 searches of houses and industrial premises and the intervention of 207 people. 207000 euros, current accounts and electronic wallets, 20 million cannabis seeds worth 100 million euros and “a high-yield laboratory specializing in the production of cannabis plant specialties using sophisticated genetic manipulation techniques ”, states the detailed briefing note published by the general direction of the Guardia Civil. In 2019 the sales of the POT SISTEMAK SL group reached 18 million euros.

LACK OF SPECIFIC REGULATIONS IN SPAIN
In the absence of specific regulations in Spain on the consumption of cannabis, this commercial activity has been guided, fundamentally, by the provisions of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, incorporated in the Official Journal of the State of November 4, 1981, article XNUMX of which excludes seeds and leaves not attached to the heads according to the definition.

In the same press release from the Spanish police, it is specified that the defendants are accused of crimes against public health, criminal organization, money laundering and electricity fraud, following investigations which began in November 2018 and in which members of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS), the body under the Ministry of Health that has the power to authorize the cultivation of cannabis for medical or research, "as part of a technical advisory work". In addition, it refers to the seizure of 2100 seedlings in 11 plantations of “paid” producers who, according to the note, supplied their production to the “Organization”.

One of the managers of the company arrested as part of this operation, spent 33 hours in the dungeons of the Intxaurrondo Civil Guard barracks in San Sebastian, assured Public that this intervention had no justification:

“We are not criminals. We buy seeds and we sell them. We have been doing this for 21 years. We are one of the most important seed banks in Spain and Europe and we distribute more than a hundred brands. We are obliged to be audited because we have a turnover of more than ten million euros and they have never taken anything out, we pay our taxes every year, we go to international fairs around the world whole to exhibit our seeds for 17 years… All we ask for is justice ”.

The first consequence of this intervention is that the 97 workers of the company involved, Pot Sistemak SL, of which Dinafem and La Mota are members, will have to enter an ERTE (code of regulation of temporary work) because the entity has been paralyzed and the accounts of all responsible have been blocked.

Due to the temporary closure of the entity's laboratory, a team made up of a doctor in Public Health, a doctor in Analytical Chemistry and a master's degree in Neuropharmacology to analyze the presence of pesticides in cannabis on the market also had to suspend the research project which was carried out in collaboration with the University of the Basque Country.

OVER 2 MILLION TAX PAYMENTS IN ONE YEAR
In a statement made after the intervention of the court, Pot Sistemak ensures that during the last fiscal year, he paid the State 900 euros in social security contributions and 000 million euros in payment of the corporate tax and labor income. “This is a blow that opens a path of uncertainty for the entire sector and for companies which, like us, are totally or partially dedicated to the purchase and sale of cannabis seeds”, states the company, which claims to have “full confidence in the clarity and legality” of the business model it has developed over so many years.

In Spain, there are around fifteen cannabis seed banks and a thousand grow stores that sell them, a flourishing sector that until now had not been the subject of judicial intervention like Operation Inxer-Toro , which the Guardia Civil itself describes as “a pioneer of its kind”.

SOLIDARITY OF THE CANNABIS COMMUNITY
The operation against one of the main seed banks not only caused surprise and unease in this industry, it also sparked a wave of solidarity from a large part of the cannabis movement throughout the world. Spain, which has expressed its indignation at what it sees as an escalation of police and judicial persecution from which it claims user associations are already suffering, also in a legal vacuum due to the lack of regulation of their activity.

The most insistent was the Federation of Euskadi Cannabis Consumers Associations (EUSFAC), which issued a statement to show “its deep concern over some of the police interventions that have taken place in recent weeks”, which it said , were developed with “brutality and disproportion” against “people 'investigated', abused, violated in their private life and even detained in prison for 72 hours.

In the same statement, the Basque federation also criticizes the fact that “the administration as a whole is turning a deaf ear to the social majority who demand a change in policy regarding the regulation of cannabis, ignoring the fact that it has a problem social on his plate.

Hugo Madera, spokesperson for the European Observatory on the Consumption and Cultivation of Cannabis, considers the judicial intervention of Dinafem and La Mota as surprising, because, he says, it is a “debate which has already passed ”since the publication of the Supreme Court prosecutor's report in 2003, since 1999, when growers started paying VAT on their business activity, and since the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs excluded marijuana seeds of its checklists.

According to Madera, one of the most surprising aspects of the briefing note released by the General Directorate of the Guardia Civil on Operation Inxer-Toro is the mention that it makes technical advice provided by members of the AEMPS as part of the investigation. The Observatory spokesperson describes the Medicines Agency of the Ministry of Health as “harmful and toxic” because of this advisory role in an investigation into a seed bank, instead of advancing the regulatory policies of the cannabis like those carried out in other countries of Europe and the rest of the world. “AEMPS has a problem with reality, it is still in the 20th century and we are already in the 21st”, he concludes.

Copied and pasted from - https://www.cannabis-mag.com/operation-policiere-dinafem-lamota-humbolt/

 

[MR magoo]

@arty zan 19 million in sales. now the fukkin government wants their share. it;s always about the money. humans are greedy, governments are far worse.

 

[Dr Fluff]

@arty zan 19 million in sales. now the fukkin government wants their share. it;s always about the money. humans are greedy, governments are far worse.

The stupid thing is these companies are already paying taxes and VAT.
One of the main complaints from the spanish Government is payment in bitcoin!
It is untraceable for them, so any payment in bitcoin probably doesn't pay tax!
But since when has that mattered to the like of Google and Amazon who pay virtually no tax!
Get Google and Amazon to pay tax before hassling smaller companies,l even if they do have millions in sales.
I see I got a frowny face on my post lol!! Don't worry I know it isn't my post that gets the frowny face, just the news within it!!
I haven't gone back on this thread, so can't say if mark is still posting in it.
However he is still on IG a fair bit and I'm sure he would love some friendly faces in his IG saying hello, how's it going etc!
He is a top bloke and deserves all of our love and support!

 

[Sour D]

Somebody must have pissed in someone's soup. Rather obvious they aren't a criminal enterprise. You'd think they would have gotten something like a cease and desist order.

 

[Dr Fluff]

Somebody must have pissed in someone's soup. Rather obvious they aren't a criminal enterprise. You'd think they would have gotten something like a cease and desist order.

Selling cannabis seeds is not illegal in the EU, however each country has it's own laws, so countries such as France and Sweden, still have very strict rules and seed will have to be ordered from another EU country and of course it is only for souvenir purposes, you can not legally grow them!
Spain has a number of autonomous areas, some of which want it to be 100% legalized and in the basque a Catalonia areas it virtually is, other areas of spain have a much harder stance where this is concerned!
However the Spainish authorities are challenging these changes, trying to keep it totally illegal
There are two issue which are of concern here for Spain, the massive increase of cannabis tourism and the amount of cannabis being grown in the country to supply that tourism and also supply the rest of Europe with seeds. Something which other EU countries are concerned about.
Then as I mentioned earlier is the often discounted bitcoin payments. countries really don't like tax avoidance and if they are being paid in crypto currencies, no one can say if tax is being paid on those orders.
What would cease and desist do, selling cannabis seeds is not illegal, so there is nothing to cease or desist!
It is that Spain feels there is money laundering going on and they want there cut of profits.
We all love the 10% off for paying with bitcoin from some companies but Spain says this crypto payment don't get include in any tax paid.

 

[Only1Sky]

Meanwhile .... the grow battle continues.
Here is update #12
Stain; Gorilla Breath
Notes: Day 133 (53 days on 12/12) for Gorilla Breath. Starting to put out some nice smell, and mature up nicely. Won't be too long now.
@Mañ'O'Green

 

[MR magoo]

@Mañ'O'Green my final pic is the one with the final note in post # 108. so IF this is still a contest.? when will a winner be picked. ?
Without Mark, are we still doing this?

 

[Only1Sky]

Update #13
Stain; Gorilla Breath
Notes: Well, she's is taking just a little longer than I expected. Its now Day 145 (65 days on 12/12). I've had her on a flush program (2ml per ltr of Advanced Nutrients Final Phase) for the past 12 days. I'll probably start harvesting, maybe a progressive 2-stage cut, during the new few days or so. So this is my penultimate update. @Mañ'O'Green :smoking:

 

[Garage_Grower]

Harvest Pic - Bubba Kush (Day 85)
@Mañ'O'Green

Final pic and update for this one, as she got the chop and is drying out in the cabinet. Wasn’t the prettiest plant I’ve ever grown, but there’s still a good amount of dense golf ball sized buds for me to enjoy! I went away for a week mid-November, and long story short, the cabinet sat at 90°f+ and around 19%RH. So she got cooked fairly well , and dropped most of its fan leaves, but still managed to hang in there till the end.