Romanian prosecutors of the Anti-Organized Crime Directorate (DIICOT) and police officers seized a record of two tons of cannabis on Friday, September 29, following searches in Mehedinti county.

The investigation targets five people, namely two Italians and three Romanians, who set up a cannabis crop on a 4,000-square-meter land plot in Poiana Gruii village in Mehedinti county.

The cannabis plants had a height of 1.5 meters and were in the last stage of vegetation before harvesting, according to DIICOT.

One of the suspects, a 38-year-old man, was in charge of taking care of these plants. He had planted them on a plot of land belonging to his grandfather, at the request of an Italian citizen from Naples for which he worked during the period 2012-2016. His father and other people from the village helped him take care of the cannabis plants, the prosecutors say.

Moreover, in July this year, the 38-year-old man bought a house near the cannabis plantation, a house that was supposed to be used to process the cannabis plants to be harvested.

Following the searches carried out last Friday, September 29, the prosecutors seized around two tons of cannabis and brought in 11 people for questioning.

Meanwhile, two police officers from Arad were detained on Sunday, October 1, after the authorities discovered they had planted cannabis in a forest in the county. One of the policemen and a friend of his were caught while preparing to harvest the cannabis plants while the other police officer was taken from his home by DIICOT prosecutors, reports local Mediafax.

All three people were arrested for 24 hours but could spend 30 days in jail if the court approves the prosecutors’ request in this sense.

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Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com