Italian military police conducting routine night patrols in Licola, near Giugliano in Campania, stopped a car driven by a 63-year-old man from Marano already known to authorities. A search revealed he was carrying 63 grams of marijuana and 2 grams of cocaine.
Following his arrest, police from the Pozzuoli company searched the suspect’s villa in Marano. While the ground floor appeared normal, officers discovered a sophisticated, high-tech marijuana cultivation operation on the first floor.
The facility featured three distinct rooms dedicated to seeding, cultivation, and drying. Four advanced grow boxes equipped with high-efficiency lamps, fertilizers, and other cultivation materials were also found.
The overnight search concluded at dawn with the seizure of 98 marijuana plants, each approximately 80 centimeters tall, weighing a total of 25 kilograms (55 pounds). Police also confiscated an additional 350 grams of marijuana packaged for retail sale. On-site, officers destroyed 40 sprouting plants and seized €2,317 in cash believed to be proceeds from the illegal operation.
This state-of-the-art grow facility required significant electricity, supplied by an illegal hookup to the power grid. Authorities are quantifying the amount stolen. The 200-square-meter villa was seized.
The arrested man is currently in jail awaiting trial.