In Sardinia the traditional mafias only have "projections": they invest proceeds from illicit activities carried out in other regions. Local crime is responsible for setting up a gigantic illicit business, which has transformed the island into a "flourishing market for the production and dealing of narcotics, in particular marijuana, which is produced in very large quantities in illegal cultivations concealed in the most inaccessible inland".
The largest square in Italy : in 2022, according to a recent report delivered to Parliament, 15 tons of hemp were seized from this part of the Tyrrhenian Sea, half the Italian quantity.
From cultivation to export the step is simple and obvious. And it is in this phase that the Sardinians strengthen their ties with the organizations of the Peninsula, to also reach the rest of Europe.
The thesis is from the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, which has just released its report for the second half of 2022.
«The Island», we read, «is characterized by a progressive and constant increase in drug trafficking». Which is linked to another phenomenon: attacks on armored vehicles. «The investigations and trials», it is written in the Dia report, «demonstrate the close link between these crimes and organized drug trafficking, often financed with the proceeds of robberies».
The latest kidnapping? This morning: in Arborea the carabinieri discovered land with over 3,330 plants with a high concentration of THC. The farmer: an 18-year-old student from the village.
