It took almost 5 months of patient work to reclaim palm to palm, with the help of sophisticated metal detectors, the over 700 thousand square meters of forest in the Milanese groane park between the two railway stations of Ceriano Laghetto, which surround what was once sadly known as the "drug forest".
"Armed" with metal detectors, the volunteers of the GST - Territorial Support Group (renamed "Serpico") - carried out a mammoth reclamation of the area by cleaning it of weapons and tools that the drug dealers used every day for their shady business.
From mid-April 2020 until the end of August 2020, in 500 hours of work, the researchers scoured a wooded area of about 700 thousand square meters.
The result?
Found 136 casings wrapped in film or foil that contained:
- Weapons
- Drugs
- Electronic objects.
Here are some examples:
Garrett Apex metal detector
Shark III Mini Steel Spade
Specifically, the following were found:
- 146 grams of narcotics
- 7 firearms (6 pistols and a shotgun)
- 34 cutting weapons
- 1 pistol crossbow
- 70 ammunition between pistol bullets and pallets
- 1 pack of 500 pellets caliber 4.5
- 50 mobile phones
- 20 precision balances
- a dozen technological tools (including digital cameras, tablets, PCs, GPS, MP3 players)
- 6 watches
- an accounting book
- personal documents.
During the reclamation, a huge amount of accessories were found that were used by drug dealers, for their "subsistence": cutlery, bottle openers, canned goods, pots, kitchen grills.