Absurd in Pompeii: marijuana plantation discovered on park property

Unbelievable in Pompeii: in a fund acquired by the Pompeii Archaeological Park, the Naples Carabinieri in fact discovered a large cultivation of cannabis, so extensive and lush that the intense smell of marijuana could even be perceived from the area. The cultivation covers an area of 2,000 square meters between the former Bourbon Powder Mill and the La Cartiera shopping center: an automated system had been set up to irrigate the water, drawing from the Sarno River.

According to initial investigations, the area, which is owned by the Archaeological Park, was allegedly occupied by unknown individuals who took advantage of the fact that dense wild vegetation grows around the area, and that the area can only be reached through a burrow that passes through the boundary wall of the former powder mill. The military seized 18,000 marijuana plants, weighing as much as nine tons, as well as growing and packaging materials.

“We thank law enforcement for the excellent work carried out against these criminal operations,” commented Pompeii Archaeological Park director , Gabriel Zuchtriegel. “For more than a year, the Pompeii Park has been in the process of reclaiming the entire monumental complex from the garbage that years of neglect had led to turning it into a veritable illegal dump. With the completion of the garbage cleanup, which is now imminent, work has also begun on clearing the area of infesting vegetation in order to free the area and to be able to start the recovery and restoration work that will allow the reopening to the public of 5 hectares of the historic park, characterized by the very long Avenue of the Platans in double rows. The procedure for the perimeter video surveillance network of the complex has been initiated, which, once activated, will allow full control of the monument.”

It remains to be understood, however, how it was possible for unknown persons to take possession of a state-owned area undisturbed enough to start a thriving marijuana cultivation. Expressing her disappointment, Senator Margherita Corrado (Mixed Group), who is always active on issues concerning cultural heritage, said, “How come the Park management did not realize what was happening in a property owned by it? Who controls what is happening in one of the most important archaeological sites in the world? It should be done by those who own it and, thanks to special autonomy, enjoy substantial human and financial resources, but apparently this is not the case. In fact, the curators of the plantation went in and out of it at will, unnoticed. This contravenes every basic rule of proper management of an archaeological site that, because of its objective exceptionality, like and more than others should be protected and enhanced in a cultural sense but, despite, most recently, being nominated for the international award for the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries of the year (thanks to the real and fake news of 2020, such as the Etruscan origin of Pompeii), it is instead an emblem of the failed character in itself and the inherent harmfulness of the Franceschini reforms.”

Corrado, after thanking the Carabinieri, called for former Park Director Massimo Osanna to resign as director general museums: “as a manager, in my opinion, he has failed,” the senator says, attributing to Osanna the mistake of having “hoarded as many sites as possible to include in the Park’s perimeter,” including those where the planting was located, but without having “arranged for the necessary controls” on the assets administered by the Park on behalf of the State, “leaving it in absolute abandonment and thus allowing unknown people to do their own thing undisturbed.”

Pictured is the Pompeian plantation

Absurd in Pompeii: marijuana plantation discovered on park property

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