Drone drops hundreds of bags of cannabis in Tel Aviv

A drone drops hundreds of bags of cannabis in the skies of Tel Aviv. (Credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)

People rushing to gather as many bags as they can get a hold of, September 3 (Credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)

A drone dropped hundreds of bags of cannabis on Thursday afternoon over Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, attracting dozens of confused people, who rushed to pick up as many bags as they could carry.The bags of cannabis were dropped by the "green drone" Telegram group, which advocates for the legalization of cannabis in Israel, with "free love" being the group's slogan.Before dropping the cannabis over Tel Aviv, the group published a message on Telegram, hinting at the planned operation."It's time my dear brothers. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the green drone, handing out free cannabis from the sky... Enjoy my beloved brothers, this is your pilot brother, making sure we all get some free love," the message read.The message also indicated that the operation was part of the group's celebratory launching of a new delivery system titled "rain of cannabis.""We're launching the 'rain of cannabis' project, that will include a weekly delivery to different parts of the country of 1 kilo of cannabis divided into free 2 gram bags," the message stated.The masterminds behind the operation also addressed the imminent threat of a lockdown imposed by the government in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, explaining that the situation "requires thinking outside the box and coming up with new ways of getting cannabis to consumers" – which they said is what gave birth to the project in the first place.The police announced shortly after the incident that it had arrested two suspects in their 30s, who allegedly operated the drone that flew over Rabin Square which scattered the bags of cannabis.According to police, the distribution of a substance suspected to be dangerous is illegal. The suspects who were arrested will be interrogated and dealt with accordingly.