A crackdown on drug trafficking in the Lattari Mountains resulted in the seizure of a ton and a half of cannabis.

A crackdown on drug trafficking in the Lattari Mountains: one and a half tons of cannabis seized aboard the "Jamaica d'Italia."

There's a harsh, unmistakable smell rising from the rugged valleys of the Lattari Mountains, mingling with that of the damp earth and chestnut trees. It's the smell of cannabis, grown on terraces reclaimed from the mountainside, in what has become the "Jamaica of Italy."

The Carabinieri of the Castellammare di Stabia Company have dealt yet another blow to this illegal business with the final report of Operation "Continuum Bellum 3": a months-long campaign that led to the seizure of 1.5 tons of cannabis plants, with an estimated market value of over half a million euros.

The war between the paths of the narcos

The operation, now in its third consecutive year, is not a simple reconnaissance mission, but a full-fledged counterinsurgency effort. The soldiers move in single file, through brambles and steep paths, often guided only by the dull roar of the helicopter blades of the 7th Nucleus of Pontecagnano.

From above, the aircraft's electronic eye scans the ridges between Gragnano, Lettere, and Casola di Napoli, trying to identify clearings hidden by the thick vegetation.

To support the Carabinieri There are local specialists, the "Calabria" and "Sicilia" Helicopter Squadrons, elite units trained to operate in rural and hostile contexts, just like the Aspromonte areas from which they come.

Their job is to locate, sample, and destroy the plantations, often hidden in inaccessible canyons and ravines. The area's microclimate, with its perfect exposure to the sun, abundant water, and fertile volcanic soil, transforms a natural paradise into a gigantic open-air greenhouse for the clans.

The balance of the operation

The numbers in "Continuum Bellum 3" capture the vastness of the phenomenon:

1.

1,5 tons of biomass seized, from which approximately 95 kg of marijuana could have been obtained, ready for the drug dealing centers.

47 kg of already dried and packaged marijuana found during the raids.

Six people were arrested and two were charged, including growers, plantation custodians, and intermediaries in the criminal chain.

Weapons, ammunition, and gunpowder were also seized, confirming the inextricable link between drug trafficking and violence.

An Endless Struggle: From "White River" to Today

"Continuum Bellum"This is just the latest chapter in a twenty-year war the state is waging in the Lattari Mountains. The names of past operations still resonate like scars across the land: from "Fiume Bianco" to "Piazza Pulita," raids that over the years have led to high-profile arrests and million-dollar seizures, dismantling the networks of the Afeltra-Di Martino clans and other Camorra families who built empires on this "cursed weed."

However, the business adapts. Narco-growers are pushing ever higher, using drones to monitor their fields and improvised irrigation systems to reach plots once considered too difficult. Each plant tells a story of a criminal organization: imported seeds, armed guards, and sophisticated agronomic techniques to maximize the yield of the active ingredient.

Today's operation reaffirms a truth: the mountains that once sheltered shepherds and farmers are now a hot front in the fight against organized crime. A battle fought meter by meter, tree by tree, in which the State continues to demonstrate its strenuous resistance.