Caltanissetta, marijuana in an agricultural fund: maxi-seizure of 20 thousand "skunk" plants, 11 arrested
One of the largest seizures in Sicily
Caltanissetta, marijuana in an agricultural fund: maxi-seizure of 20 thousand "skunk" plants, 11 arrested.
This morning the Caltanissetta Investigation Unit, in the Provinces of Caltanissetta and Palermo, executed a precautionary custody order, issued during the preliminary investigations by the Caltanissetta GIP at the request of the local DDA, against 11 subjects (3 originating from Riesi and 8 from the Province of Palermo).
They are under investigation for the crime of criminal association aimed at the cultivation and trafficking of narcotic substances.
The investigative process
The investigation, which arose from the discovery in the territory of the Municipality of Butera (CL), on 2 June 2021, by the Riesi CC Station, of a marijuana plantation of a total of 15 thousand plants, for which today's suspects are not registered in the crime register.
This made it possible to acquire serious indications of guilt regarding the existence of a criminal association dedicated to cultivation and drug trafficking, whose alleged promoter is a 53-year-old from Riese and which includes exponents of Palermo crime with criminal records.
During the investigations launched in January 2022 by the Carabinieri and coordinated by the local DDA, all the alleged phases of the illicit activity were reconstructed, from the transport of the seedlings inside plateaus hidden in double bottoms obtained from truck bodies, to the planting and their irrigation.
The discovery
In particular, on the morning of last June 21st in the Figotto di Riesi district (CL), the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Caltanissetta, collaborated by personnel from the Carabinieri Helicopter Hunters Squadron "Sicilia" and the Helicopter Unit of Palermo, in response to the investigations, obtained 4 people arrested flagrantly for the crime of cultivation of narcotic substances.
These were surprised inside an agricultural fund, intent on cultivation activities, where the military was operating they found among the rows of vines, and subsequently seized, around 20 thousand "skunk" type marijuana plants, with a height between 45 and 90 cm, with a total value on the drug market of around 16 million euros.
One hundred plants were sampled by personnel from the narcotics analysis laboratory of the Catania Carabinieri who intervened on site, and the remaining part was immediately uprooted and destroyed. Another five plants sampled were analyzed with positive results immediately.
Arrest him
The arrests were validated with the simultaneous application of four precautionary measures in prison, furthermore the GIP, following a request from the Nissena DDA, applied the precautionary measure in prison for seven other suspects.
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