The Carabinieri of the Mangano Guard Station in the Catania area intervened in the early afternoon of yesterday in the Acese hamlet of Pozzillo, where they discovered a small villa, entirely used as a real factory for the cultivation and preparation of marijuana.
In the previous days, during the daily patrols to control the territory, the Carabinieri noticed suspicious movements near what appeared to be an old detached house, apparently uninhabited, with windows and doors completely closed and an overgrown garden. What made the soldiers even more suspicious was the fact that, through the cracks of a closed window, they could see a light that was always on.
The military, therefore, decided to intensify checks to try to better monitor the area until, yesterday, they noticed two subjects, arriving by car, entering the building, leaving the door ajar. At that point the operation began to check what was happening inside.
The soldiers found themselves in front of a real factory for the cultivation and processing of cannabis. All the rooms of the building had been completely used for the production of marijuana. In some rooms, equipped with a suitably arranged wooden pergola, as well as an irrigation and thermo-lighting system, the plants were grown: from shoots to the fully mature stage, with specimens over 1.60 m tall. tall, for a total of approximately 60 cannabis plants of different varieties. In other environments, where fans and dehumidifiers had been specially positioned, the plants were dried. At the end of the activities, the operating soldiers also seized approximately 6.5 kg of dried marijuana, prepared for processing. The processing phase of the narcotic also probably took place within the same building, where the Carabinieri found another 900 grams of substance, ready to be introduced into the drug dealing circuits in the area. Scales and a vacuum machine for weighing and packaging the narcotic were also found.
The carabinieri also ascertained that all the activity was carried out relying on illegal connections to obtain electricity and water, in the large quantities necessary. According to an initial estimate, the value of the electricity stolen to power the complex illegal electrical system for the cultivation and processing of cannabis amounts to approximately 150,000.00 euros. The two subjects surprised inside the “factory” were arrested by the Carabinieri; the narcotic substance removed and the entire building subjected to seizure.
