Nine thousand genetically modified marijuana seedlings, in order to raise the active ingredient and avoid excessive growth in height, so as to hide them from drones or helicopters.

To discover the maxi-plantation - which could have supplied the drugstore market in Sardinia and also in Lazio and which could have yielded up to 5 million euros - were the agents of the Oristano Mobile Squad.

The huge “enchanted garden” - as it is defined in the jargon - was found in the area of Sau Caria, in Santa Giusta , where the agents seized a total of 8,860 plants and 350 kilos of already cut marijuana.

Five people arrested, including the owner of the land, for cultivation and possession for the purpose of drug dealing, aged between 22 and 66 years.

The operation is directly linked to the arrest of a 32-year-old from Nuoro, which took place last October 5 in Marrubiu. On that occasion, the police seized over a quintal and a half of marijuana, coming from the plantation of Santa Giusta.

The latter, according to investigations coordinated by the manager Samuele Cabizzosu, had been created on a plot where a legal cannabis plantation was located last year.

Before proceeding with the blitz, the agents took up positions, also monitoring the situation with a drone. When they spotted a group of people uprooting plants by loading them onto a truck, they then proceeded to arrest.

The owner of the land claimed at first that the plants were legal, but from subsequent analyzes it was found that they had an active ingredient 20 percent higher than required by the law. An "enhancement" achieved thanks to ad hoc genetic and botanical modifications.

It is one of the largest cannabis seizures carried out on the island in recent years.

(Unioneonline / lf)