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SPANISH LAW

Spain’s Galicia to ban minors from drinking energy drinks

Authorities in the northwestern region of Galicia are looking to pass legislation which will fine under-18s who own or drink energy drinks between €600 and €3,000, the same penalties as for small amounts of illicit drugs. 

Published: 10 November 2023 16:23 CET
Spain’s Galicia to ban minors from drinking energy drinks
The draft law remains open to suggestions until November 28th, but Galicia’s Xunta expects the legislation to come into force in early 2024. Photo: Jorge Franganillo/Unsplash

Galicia plans to wage war on energy drinks with eye-opening legislation that will prohibit their ownership and consumption among minors. 

The Xunta regional government has presented a draft law that in effect classifies taurine-based drinks by brands such as Red Bull and Monster in the same category as alcohol, illegal for those who are under age in Spain. 

The fines the law plans to hand out to misbehaving kids and teens – or presumably their parents – will range from a minimum of €600 to €3,000, similar amounts can be given to people of all ages caught with small amounts of cocaine, cannabis or other illicit substances.

READ MORE: What are the penalties for drug possession in Spain?

However, the most serious crimes (mass sale of energy drinks to minors, for example) could see offenders receive far stiffer penalties – between €15,025 and €600,000. 

If the law is passed, vendors will have to ask customers who could be under the age of 18 for ID if they are looking to buy these drinks.

It will no longer be possible to sell them in vending machines or establishments where minors could have easy access to said beverages, nor will energy drink advertising that targets young people be permitted.

Even in bars and nightclubs in the region where minors are not allowed, 2 for 1 promotions involving bebidas energéticas will be banned.  

According to the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), the regular and excessive consumption of energy drinks can pose a health problem for consumers.

Drinking more than 200 millilitres of these drinks reportedly causes sleep disturbances in teenagers due to their high caffeine content, whilst consuming 500 millilitres can lead to psychological side effects, behavioural alterations and cardiovascular disorders.

The draft bill also looks to tighten legislation for tobacco and vaping products in the region of 2.7 million inhabitants.

The draft law remains open to suggestions until November 28th, but Galicia’s Xunta expects the legislation to come into force in early 2024.

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CRIME

Spain seizes 1.8 tonnes of Sinaloa Cartel’s crystal meth

Spanish police said Thursday they had seized 1,800 kilos of crystal meth that Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel was trying to sell in Europe, the country's "biggest-ever seizure" of the narcotic.

Published: 16 May 2024 17:07 CEST
Spain seizes 1.8 tonnes of Sinaloa Cartel's crystal meth

Police arrested five people during the raid in the eastern Alicante province, one of them a Mexican running the cartel’s Spanish operation, a statement said.

“This is the biggest-ever seizure of crystal meth in Spain and the second largest in Europe,” Antonio Martinez Duarte, head of the police’s drug trafficking and organised crime unit, told reporters.

“Among those arrested is a Mexican citizen linked to the Sinaloa Cartel,” he added.

READ ALSO: What are the penalties for drug possession in Spain?

He did not give his name but indicated the suspect was responsible for receiving the narcotics in Spain then distributing them within Europe.

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of Mexico’s oldest, largest and most violent criminal groups whose influence remains strong despite the arrest of its founder Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman and his son.

Both have been extradited to and jailed in the United States.

During the operation, police also detained three Spaniards and a Romanian, seizing five cars, documents, a weapon and cash.

But police believe it was a one-off trafficking operation and that “Mexican organisations are not permanently based” in Spain, Martinez Duarte said.

“These organisations send a trusted person who carries out the operation in line with their interests” and once that is over, he goes back home, he explained.

The seized narcotics had been due to be shipped to central Europe.

Although Spain is one of the main drug gateways to Europe, seizures of synthetic narcotics are uncommon as most traffickers usually deal in cannabis and cocaine.

READ ALSO: Why is Spain’s Europe’s cocaine gateway?

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