Like every early autumn, it is harvest time in Sardinia too . And no, we are not talking about some seasonal fruit but about a market in which, despite itself, the island is the protagonist: that of marijuana. Last year alone, over 15 tonnes were seized in Sardinia, i.e. 46% of the total quantity intercepted in Italy, as reported in the annual report to Parliament on drug addiction.
It is therefore no coincidence that this is the right time for the police to comb the Sardinian countryside, hunting for the most mature inflorescences. And in fact in less than a month thousands of plants have been discovered: to be precise, almost 18 thousand for a value of millions of euros.
AT VILLA SANT'ANTONIO - The latest cultivation was discovered by the Carabinieri of the Operational and Radiomobile Unit of the Mogoro Company and of the Investigative Unit of the Operations Department of Oristano, in close synergy and collaboration with the "Hunters of Sardinia" Heliborne Squadron of Enough. It was a plantation of approximately 1,500 square meters, composed of almost 800 plants with mature inflorescences, between 30 and 220 cm, hidden in the dense vegetation of Villa Sant'Antonio and watered with a drip irrigation system connected to large water tanks. 'waterfall. From the analyzes carried out by the RIS of Cagliari, a level of THC - the active ingredient of the high - of 5% was found, well above the permitted threshold of 0.6. A 21-year-old agricultural worker from Senis was arrested in flagrante delicto, and a 44-year-old farmer originally from Nuoro and a 21-year-old from Ales were reported for the production, cultivation and concurrent possession of narcotic substances.
The soldiers caught them red-handed while cutting the most mature inflorescences and loading them into the bed of a large pickup. Truck to which the police blocked the road, with the three who fled but were then arrested. In the countryside and in nearby companies, a real production chain has been identified with areas designated for drying and large plastic bins with almost 150 kg of substance already collected.
IN SESTU – In Sestu, in the Sa Magangiosa area, two thousand plants and 15 kilos of marijuana ready for sale were seized . A 41-year-old man was arrested and has already negotiated a two-year prison sentence with a suspended sentence and has been released. In a room where the man normally stacked hay, the Quartu carabinieri, coordinated by the company commander Michele Cerri, found the 2 thousand plants left to dry and the marijuana kept in plastic bags and containers. Analyzed by specialists from the RIS of Cagliari, it had a THC of 11 percent.
IN GUSPINI – In Guspini, during the inspection of a sheepfold on a farm of over 100 hectares owned by a 33-year-old farmer, the carabinieri of the Villacidro Company, with the use of 15 soldiers from the various stations as well as the NORM and a team of the “Hunters of Sardinia” Heliborne Squadron, have identified 6,492 plants between 60 and 90 centimetres , arranged in 92 rows. The percentage of active ingredient THC was 3.75%. Also found were fertilizer tanks, a drip irrigation system that drew water from a 5000 liter tank connected to an electric pump, a generator and an artesian well.
IN PIMENTEL – In Pimentel , another vast marijuana plantation with a potential value of ten million euros was discovered by the police of the Samatzai station, seizing over 2 hectares as many as three thousand drug hemp plants, with high-level mature inflorescences of THC . Among the hills of the "Sa Pioi" area, in the arid and uninhabited areas towards the Guasila countryside, there was an agricultural plateau with a hollow, hidden part, very distant from the inhabited areas and some sheepfolds. Here, 3,002 marijuana plants were grown, with an average height of around 1.5 meters each, aligned in 80 rows and perfectly irrigated with a centralized drip system. The samples were then analyzed in the laboratory by the RIS of Cagliari, where the presence of 5% THC emerged.
IN THE NUORESE AREA - A forest of marijuana was found in recent days by the Nuoro Financial Police Group also in the countryside between Orani and Orotelli . The military seized 2,112 plants, for a total weight of approximately 7,100 kilos, and a further 500 kilos of inflorescences. The complaint before the Public Prosecutor's Office of Nuoro was made against an agricultural entrepreneur who, according to the Fiamme Gialle, used the cultivation of sativa hemp, permitted by law, as a cover. The seized product, it emerged from the analyses, had a THC of 12.5% : twenty times higher than that allowed by law. It would produce 1,100kg of dried inflorescences and leaves, ready for retail sale.
IN ARBOREA – Another of the most significant drug seizures of the year was in Arborea : there were around 3,300 plants, grown in a one-hectare plot surrounded by land intended for the production of corn. An eighteen-year-old student ended up in handcuffs. When the soldiers arrived, the young man was tinkering with the irrigation system among plants of a type of marijuana that does not grow much, but has a high THC content. The intervention was then extended to a shed belonging to the young man's family: here another 80 kilos of already dried grass were found, as well as fertilizers and pesticides necessary to improve cultivation.
(Unioneonline/D)