He electrical fraud increases Cordova and in Spain during the last years, with the marijuana plantations indoor(inside homes or buildings) as one of the protagonists of this illegal phenomenon because it is also an activity linked to other crimes. They are not the most numerous hookups, but their damage is very notable.. In this way, Endesa has started 17 files related to crops of this drug until last April in Córdoba (which is equivalent to an average of one a week), counting 852,236 kilowatt hours defrauded. This energy is equivalent to average annual consumption of 244 homesaccording to the data provided by this distributor.
The capital has recorded the highest number of frauds, with 14 files in which a consumption of 783,487 KWh has been detected. Second appears Bujalance, with one case and 57,028 KWh defrauded. It has also been located a hitch illegal linked to cannabis cultivation in Priego From Cordoba where 11,169 KWh have been recovered, and the last one has been found in Hinojosa del Duquewith 552 KWh.
Regarding its impact, the company estimates that each greenhouse indoor of marijuana requires a power equivalent to the consumption of 80 homeswhich means, in practice, introducing industrial consumption in a residential area.
Thus, he explains that “the lighting and ventilation systems used to accelerate the growth of plants work through illegal hooks that wreak havoc on the electrical grid. “They generate overloads that activate the protections of the transformation centers, causing supply interruptions that affect all the residents of the area and, in extreme cases, they lead to fires.”
Furthermore, remember that another consequence is the economic damage for the rest of the consumers, since they pay for electricity fraud, with an average cost of 69 euros per year per supply point.
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Marijuana plantation dismantled in Bujalance
a thousand cases
So far this year (with data at the end of April), Endesa has dismantled 984 electrical frauds in the province. Of these, those linked to the marijuana crops, which are 17, do not represent 2% of the total.
However, the disappointed energy in these plantations it represents a 12%. Thus, in the thousand files opened in Córdoba, a fraud of 7 GWh has been detected and, as has been specified, the energy recovered from illegal drug-related hookups has been 852,236 KWh.
The capital, with 438 files, is the one that registers the greatest number of irregularities. In this city, 3.5 GWh have not been paid until last April. To have an estimate of the incidence of this activity, it should be noted that the average electricity consumption of a home is 3,487 kWh per year, so only in Córdoba has it been defrauded, during the first quarter, the electricity needed by a thousand families a year.
Regarding the fraud detected in the rest of the municipalities of Córdoba, La Carlota It is positioned in second place with 51 open files and 353,091 KWh recovered. They follow him Genil Bridgewhere 50 violations have been located with 208,630 kilowatt hours of defrauded energy, and Lucenawith 41 irregularities that imply the consumption of 196,578 KWh.
In fiscal year 2023, e-distribution (Endesa’s network subsidiary) located some 2,000 frauds throughout the province, which allowed 17 GWh to be recovered. Along with the cultivation of marijuana, the rest of the fraud corresponded to large consumption related to industry, business and the residential sector.
More collaborations in police operations
Images of police actions to seize plantations indoor of marijuana allow us to observe the presence of agents deployed to the scenebut also sometimes that of technicians that are required to dismantle the hitches illegal electricity. In this sense, Endesa points out that so far in 2024 (with data as of the end of May) it has collaborated in 45 interventions organized by the National Police or the Civil Guard in Córdoba for the removal of cannabis crops. These are 61% more than all those counted in 2023.
Image of an indoor marijuana plantation in Espejo.
Furthermore, the distributor has carried out this year a massive intervention in the Las Palmeras neighborhood in Córdoba, which is a job (review of supply points) organized by Endesa itself to detect electrical fraud, in which it has requested the collaboration of the State security forces and bodies to guarantee the safety of its employees. Last year, this company carried out a massive intervention in the neighborhood of Los Mochos, in Almodóvar del Río.
The company explains that this work is traditionally and continuouslyboth in areas where fraud is known to exist and in others, and only demands the support of the security forces when there is certain conflict.
