Gonario Morittu and Pietro Noli of Orani, Fabiano Benzi of Silanus, and Giuseppe Marrone of Buddusò. These four were arrested as part of an operation by Carabinieri officers from the Nuoro provincial command that led to the discovery of a gigantic marijuana plantation spread across two plots of land in the Ispodilo area, beneath Mount Gonare. A fifth person is under investigation: Salvatore Morittu , Gonario's brother, who has been charged at large. The location was discovered in July, but the action was only carried out today.

Those responsible are also accused of water theft: the crop was irrigated with a system consisting of approximately 23 kilometers of pipes.

The numbers are impressive: 35,000 plants were still planted, 13,000 were drying. A total weight of 3.5 tons would have brought in approximately €31 million on the retail market.

To try to avoid checks from above, the marijuana had been planted under high-voltage pylons. But the operation didn't escape the attention of the Carabinieri squad members.

The checks also revealed that some laborers had been hired to process the industrial hemp. Indeed, approximately 10,000 plants were found to have a THC concentration below the legal threshold. A transfer contract with a Swiss company, signed after the plantation began, was produced for these plants. However, the law requires that the agreement be made in advance.

The size of the seized plantation becomes even more significant when compared to official data: in Sardinia in 2024 (the latest available data), 100,336 plants were seized, a 32.6% increase over the previous year (when there were 72,698). Throughout Italy, 154,819 plants were identified by law enforcement. The latest operation alone represents half of those seized in a record-breaking year.

The defendants are being defended by lawyers Francesco Lai, Lorenzo Simonetti, Annamaria Musio, Marco Piredda, and Alessandro Tuvoni.

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