Piedimonte Etneo: a 45-year-old local man fails to escape control, the Carabinieri find drugs and turtles belonging to protected species on him, arrested.

The Carabinieri of the Randazzo Company, according to the guidelines of the Provincial Command of Catania aimed at preventing and repressing widespread illegality including the fight against drug dealing and trafficking, arrested a 45-year-old from Piedimonte Etneo, for drug dealing and resisting a public official.

In particular, in the late afternoon, the attention of the military of the Randazzo Operational Unit, busy patrolling the streets of the municipality of Piedimonte Etneo, was drawn to a person known to them for previous judicial matters who, riding an electric bike along a street in the center, seeing the Carabinieri suddenly tried to change direction to avoid being stopped.

The man, in fact, immediately realized that he was being watched by the military and immediately turned into a small alley in the village, but was immediately reached by the patrol who stopped him.
The 45-year-old, despite showing a certain nervousness, complied with the requests of the soldiers who, suspicious of his fearful attitude, began a personal search.
In fact, the investigators' suspicions were well-founded, in fact, in the backpack that the subject was carrying on his shoulders, they immediately found a few grams of marijuana carefully wrapped in cellophane, and a dose of cocaine wrapped in aluminum foil, as well as 410 euros in banknotes of various denominations.

At this point, the man from Piedimonte, during the control phase, sensing that the situation was getting worse for him, with a lightning-fast movement, attempted a hasty, yet very brief, escape on foot, immediately interrupted by the officers who quickly reached him, blocked him and secured him.
At this point, suspecting that the man might be hiding other drugs in the house, the Carabinieri of the Operational Unit, assisted by colleagues from the Piedimonte Etneo and Linguaglossa stations, who had arrived at the scene of the check in the meantime, decided to conduct further investigations also at the 45-year-old's home.

In fact, inside the apartment, the officers found scattered on the kitchen table, over 500g of marijuana and approximately 10g of cocaine, all divided into doses, as well as packaging material including precision scales, plastic bags, a vacuum machine and more.
Continuing their research, the investigators also found 25 ancient coins inside a special notebook-binder, on which further tests will be carried out to establish their authenticity and, therefore, their provenance, dating and value.

In the final phase of the operation, the operating soldiers also inspected the balcony of the building, where they discovered a terrarium containing two specimens of Testudo Hermanni, a male and a female.

These medium-sized tortoises are considered a protected species.

This means that, due to their vulnerability and risk of extinction, they are protected by national and international laws that prohibit their capture, possession, and trade, in order to preserve their survival and natural habitat.
The drugs, the related drug dealing materials and the coins were seized.

The recovered turtles were instead entrusted to a specialized recovery center for their care.
The man was then arrested for drug dealing and resisting a public official, and placed at the disposal of the competent Judicial Authority, which validated the order, ordering his custody under house arrest.