The incident dates to Thursday 5 November 2026.[1] A 59-year-old Italian man employed in the nautical sector was arrested by Carabinieri of the Orbetello radiomobile unit.[1] He was driving along the Giannella road toward Porto Santo Stefano when he noticed a patrol and reversed direction, apparently hoping to avoid attracting attention.[1] The Carabinieri noticed the U-turn, followed him to a car park in the town, and stopped him and searched the car.[1]
Hidden in the car boot were 200 hashish ovals weighing altogether more than two kilograms.[1] Officers also found a gram of cocaine in a door pocket and a similar wrap in the driver’s trouser pocket.[1] Extended searches of his garage and flat turned up another 90 grams of cocaine in the garage, plus 10 grams of hashish and a precision scale in the flat.[1] Investigators believe he had invested about 18,000 euros in buying the drugs to resell them at retail, including to acquaintances in Porto Santo Stefano.[1] The alleged dealing was meant to add a second income alongside his nautical work, through the margin between the purchase price and the price charged to consumers.[1]
The next day he appeared before judge Marco Mezzaluna for the validation hearing, assisted by lawyer Giulio Parenti.[1] On Friday 6 November the judge validated the arrest and ordered pretrial detention in prison, where the man remains.[1] His lawyer will seek a review of the detention order.[1] Investigators have not yet established who supplied him or how wide his alleged customer network was.[1]
