Guardia di Finanza officers discovered and seized an outdoor cannabis plantation covering about 400 square metres hidden in dense vegetation along the Fortore river, between the municipalities of Lesina and Serracapriola in the Province of Foggia.[1] Officers uprooted 1,036 cannabis plants with a total weight of approximately 330 kilograms.[1] The cultivation comprised 556 Cannabis sativa plants averaging about two metres in height and 480 Cannabis indica plants averaging 60 centimetres.[1] The plants bore luxuriant flower heads close to harvesting, indicating that the cultivation was nearing the end of its productive cycle.[1]
The plantation was organized in regular rows and supplied by an irrigation system connected to a pump submerged in the river.[1] In addition to the crops, officers confiscated agricultural tools and technical equipment used to manage the plantation.[1] The seizure was carried out under Italy’s consolidated drug law, Presidential Decree 309/1990, which provides for the seizure of irrigation systems, pumps and production equipment alongside the plants.[1] Technical tests on samples confirmed the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol, and authorities estimated the illicit market value of the plants at more than 3 million euros.[1]
