Extreme blow to the production and trafficking of narcotic substances in Calabria. The financiers of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Reggio Calabria, in close synergy with the specialist components of the Corps, have identified and seized ten cannabis indica plantations for a total of over 4,500 plants.
The operation, coordinated and conducted under the direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Reggio Calabria and Locri, saw the soldiers of the Locri Group on the front line. The action arose from an operational territorial control device designed to counteract the cultivation of the illicit substance, a phenomenon favored by the particular climatic conditions and the morphology of the Calabrian area.
The research was concentrated in the steepest and most isolated areas of the province, where the farmers had set up the plantations by exploiting the spontaneous vegetation to hide the rows: in Caulonia, five crops were identified; in San Luca four plantations were discovered within the Polsi area; in Roghudi a further plantation was found near the ancient abandoned village of Ghorio di Roghudi, in the valley of the Amendolea river.
The financiers had to walk along long, arduous and steep paths through thick woods before they could reach and reclaim the individual sites. When accessing the sites, many plants were over three meters tall and had rich inflorescences ready for processing.
The crops were structured with highly organized criteria: automated irrigation systems with complex pipe systems and drip irrigation operated by mechanical timers to guarantee the growth of the plant even without the constant presence of man; the presence of professional fertilizers to maximize the yield of the substance; perimeter fences built to defend the crop. ù
The intervention of the Fiamme Gialle prevented the large quantity of marijuana from being dried and placed in the main drug dealing areas. According to estimates, the retail sale of the narcotic would have guaranteed criminal organizations earnings of around 7 million euros.