A judge in Madrid has decided that another city police officer should be investigated following police operations targeting shops that sell CBD products. The business owners behind the shops were accused of drug-related offences, but the legal cases against them had previously been dropped. The focus is now instead turning to the police conduct during the arrests.
From witness to suspect
The decision concerns a police officer who was initially called as a witness in the investigation at Investigating Court number 47 in Madrid. During questioning, he is said to have admitted that he, together with a colleague already under investigation, had ordered at least one of the operations against CBD shops. His status was then changed from witness to suspect.
The officer is due to appear in court on 13 November 2026. The suspicion concerns unlawful deprivation of liberty in connection with operations in which business owners were arrested and placed in custody after selling products containing cannabidiol, CBD.
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Cases against business owners were dropped
The two business owners, Ramón Merino and Pablo Gutiérrez, run CBD shops in Madrid. They had previously been accused of offences against public health and drug trafficking, but the courts have dropped the cases. According to the decisions, the seized products were below 0.2 percent THC, and the business owners had described how their operations were conducted in line with the applicable requirements.
The background is several police operations during 2024 and 2025 in which goods were seized and people were arrested. Gutiérrez has previously said he was forced to close one shop after repeated inspections, seizures and threatening situations. In March 2025, one of the cases against him was dropped, and in June it was decided that the seized products should be returned.
Internal affairs apologized
After a complaint from Gutiérrez, Madrid police’s internal affairs unit responded that disciplinary proceedings could become relevant if the officers under investigation are convicted in court. In the same response, the unit offered its “sincere apologies” for how the business owner experienced the officers’ treatment.
At the same time, Madrid police said it would not comment on the case because it is now subject to judicial review and because the presumption of innocence applies.
The conflict over CBD in Spain
The case illustrates the legal uncertainty that still surrounds CBD products in parts of Spain. Some authorities have interpreted older drug legislation and the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as meaning that hemp flowers can be regarded as narcotics regardless of THC content. That interpretation has led to action against shops selling industrial hemp and CBD products.
However, in the Kanavape case in 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that CBD should not be regarded as a narcotic when the substance does not have psychotropic or harmful effects according to the available scientific knowledge. The court also emphasized the free movement of goods within the EU.
Legal certainty takes center stage
For Spain’s CBD industry, the matter is not only about individual police operations, but about legal certainty for companies selling products with low THC levels. When criminal suspicions are dropped only after seizures, arrests and lengthy proceedings, the damage to shops may already be substantial.
The new investigation into yet another police officer means the court is now examining whether the measures taken against the business owners went beyond what the law allows. At the same time, the larger question remains: how Spain should approach CBD, industrial hemp and the EU legal view of products without intoxicating effects.
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