State police in Bolzano arrested an adult Italian citizen after finding him with 1.5 kilograms of marijuana, reported as 1,500 grams.[1] The arrest was the cannabis component of checks in which officers searched four homes and reported three young people in Bolzano.[1] The three young people were reported for offences against the person, property and drug legislation, without further detail linking a specific cannabis amount to them.[2]

In Bolzano the controls focused on the city centre, the station area, the Don Bosco and Casanova districts and the WaltherPark and Twenty shopping centres.[1][3] Police checked about 250 people, including 35 foreign nationals and 23 minors, and inspected 73 vehicles in the Bolzano area.[1][3]

The Bolzano checks were part of a large nationwide investigative operation by the Polizia di Stato, Italy’s national police, against criminal activity involving young people.[1] The national operation was coordinated by the police central operational service and aimed at crime involving young people and minors, including in drug-dealing and nightlife areas.[2]

The national operation ran with thousands of officers on duty across the country.[3] The stepped-up checks followed violent clashes, vandalism and looting in Milan and other Italian cities on 17 and 18 October at the margins of demonstrations.[3] Investigators also reviewed 1,115 social media profiles as part of the operation.[3]