The offensive of the Carabinieri against drug trafficking in the most inaccessible areas of Calabria continues unabated. A high-impact operation, conducted among the steep slopes of the Calabrian Preserre, led to the identification and felling of over 2,300 Indian hemp plants, dealing a heavy blow to the illicit economy of Locride with damage estimated at over 2 million euros.
The latest blitz in chronological order was carried out in the municipal area of Gioiosa Ionica. Here the soldiers of the local station, supported by the specialists of the Helicopter Squadron “Cacciatori Calabria” and the air support of the 8th Helicopter Nucleus, penetrated for hours along steep paths and almost inaccessible slopes before identifying the plantation.
The blitz in Gioiosa Ionica: giant shrubs and hi-tech irrigation
Hidden among the dense hilly vegetation, the Carabinieri found around 300 lush plants divided into two separate plots. What impressed the operators was the majesty of the shrubs, between 2 and 4 meters tall and now at full vegetative development.
Despite the choice of an isolated area, carefully studied by the growers to escape controls, the plantation was anything but rudimentary: the site was in fact served by a sophisticated automated irrigation system, capable of guaranteeing a constant and optimal water supply to each individual plant.
A blow to Locride’s business: over 200 thousand doses stolen from the market
The numbers of the operation reflect the economic dimension of the criminal activity foiled. According to investigative estimates, over 200,000 doses of marijuana could have been obtained from the cultivation of Gioiosa Ionica alone. A quantity which, once placed on the drug dealers, would have brought local criminal organizations proceeds in excess of 2 million euros.
The intervention is part of a widespread control plan of the territory which sees the force engaged daily in the sifting of the rural and mountain areas of the province of Reggio, providing fundamental support for the clandestine cultivations of organized crime.