An operation of the forest carabinieri led to the discovery and seizure of a vast cannabis sativa plantation in the countryside of Roccella Jonica, hidden in an impervious and hardly accessible area. Two men were arrested in the act of crime on charges of cultivation of amazing substance for drug dealing purposes.
The intervention was conducted by the Roccella Ionica, Brancaleone and Locri forestry carabinieri unit, under the coordination of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Locri. During the local checks, the military identified the plantation, organized on several terraces and equipped with a sophisticated drop irrigation system to ensure the growth of plants.
The area has been kept under constant monitoring through targeted filming and patrols. Just during one of these services, the carabinieri surprised the two men inside the site, intent on cutting the most mature sprouts and storing them in large black bags. The immediate intervention made it possible to block and seize the entire plantation: 162 cannabis plants, a mechanical scale and tools for pruning.
Ninety -five plants were destroyed on the spot, while the remaining – whole and already mature – were made available to the judicial authority. The Narcotest confirmed the presence of THC, the active ingredient of marijuana.
The Court of Locri, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, validated the arrests and ordered for both subjects the precautionary measure of house arrest.
The operation is part of the activity of contrasting illegal crops that often find refuge in rural and mountain areas, exploiting the isolation and the difficulty of access to escape the controls of the police.