Palermo, illegal weapons and marijuana greenhouse at the CEP and Borgo Nuovo: 7 people in prison

Palermo, i Carabinieri of the Palermo San Lorenzo Company have carried out a precautionary custody order in prison, issued by the local Court at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, against seven subjects accused in various capacities of illegal possession and carrying of firearms, receiving stolen goods and possession for the purposes of drug dealing.

The investigation, carried out between March and June 2020 at the height of the pandemic crisis, was focused on the discovery of the existence and operation of a weapons and ammunition depot near a house near Fondo Gallo, in the CEP district /Borgonuovo: the same was in fact used by the owners, husband, wife and two of their three children, as a storage site where they could hide common firearms and clandestine weapons, which were then sold to other subjects.

During the investigations, which made it possible to document that the suspects continued to pursue their criminal interests despite the current health emergency, 6 people were arrested red-handed and 5 weapons of different shapes and calibers were recovered, including a Beretta semi-automatic rifle CX4 “Storm”, an illegal pistol and one stolen, all fully efficient and ready for use, as well as a large number of ammunition.

It was also understood, thanks to the investigations carried out by the military coordinated by the magistrates of the Public Prosecutor's Office, that the criminal group under investigation also derived its sustenance from the trafficking of narcotic substances, as demonstrated by the seizure of an entire marijuana plantation, cultivated through connections illegal to the public electricity grid, installed inside a real "bunker” obtained in the vicinity of a pigsty belonging to the villa.

During one of the interventions at the house, an illegal slaughterhouse was also found, with the help of the Forestry Carabinieri, where numerous pigs were illegally killed and processed, with the subsequent seizure of more than a quintal of meat placed inside a cold room, already intended for human consumption.

The operation is a sign of attention towards a neighborhood which has unfortunately returned to the forefront of the news following the arson fire at the Peter Pan nursery school at the beginning of January and a strong response which highlights the commitment that has always been made by the Carabinieri in a difficult reality, which daily shows the need to redeem oneself.