Police divers have found greater than half 1,000,000 {dollars} price of hashish hidden in a cave on the picturesque Italian island of Ponza.
The authorities on the island — a preferred trip spot for the wealthy and well-known — stated they seized 330 blocks of the drug, weighing 40 kilograms (88 kilos) in whole, from the cave, which may solely be accessed by sea.
Italian police divers seize cannabis hidden in sea cave
Police on Ponza, which is extensively recognized for its spectacular cliffs, instructed NCS Wednesday that that they had been watching the mouth of the cave in the Chiaia di Luna space. They consider the medicine, that are estimated to have a road worth of greater than half 1,000,000 {dollars}, have been supposed for the summer season vacationer season, which is because of kick off with a three-day holiday this weekend.
A video printed by the authorities confirmed that police divers needed to entry the tiny cave from a ship.
The 4th Naval Unit Squad of the Gaeta Naval Operations labored with the Ponza department of the Guardia di Finanza monetary police, which stated in a press release Tuesday that the seizure was made by cave divers who accessed a tunnel to get to the cave.
“The investigative activity, carried out through intelligence services, territorial observation, and monitoring of suspicious movements, led to the identification of a significant quantity of narcotics intended to fuel the illicit market during the summer season,” they stated.
“This is a significant achievement that demonstrates the professionalism and training of the personnel employed, capable of operating in particularly complex and difficult-to-access environments.”
The medicine have been thought to have been introduced over by dinghy from Anzio on the mainland, police stated.
Ponza’s mayor, Francesco Ambrosino, instructed native media that authorities are retaining a detailed eye on drug dealing on the island, which is simply three sq. miles in dimension.
“The season has just begun. We expect 15,000 people to arrive for the upcoming weekend of Saints Peter and Paul: there are 3,000 residents,” he instructed La Repubblica.
“It’s clear that with these numbers, drug dealing can be a problem, but the seizures demonstrate that law enforcement is paying close attention. This is comforting.”
Ambrosino stated the restricted regulation enforcement on the island made it enticing to party-goers. Ponza has simply 5 police officers, and they’re principally busy controlling visitors disembarking from ferries, he stated.
Ponza —the most important island of the Pontine archipelago, which sits offshore between Rome and Naples — has lengthy been fashionable with celebrities, together with the late clothier Giorgio Armani, Beyoncé and Naomi Campbell.
Inhabited for the reason that Neolithic period, it has additionally been a spot of exile. Italy’s wartime fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was imprisoned right here in July 1943 after he was overthrown and arrested. He was solely on the island for 10 days in whole — he was moved round whereas in detention in a bid to evade German forces who sought to reinstate him as chief.