Italian police divers find huge cannabis stash in sea cave off celebrity holiday island

Police have discovered hashish worth more than half a million dollars hidden in a cave on the Italian island of Ponza. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)

Police divers have discovered more than half a million dollars worth of hashish hidden in a cave on the picturesque Italian island of Ponza.

The authorities on the island — a popular vacation spot for the rich and famous — said they seized 330 blocks of the drug, weighing 40 kilograms (88 pounds) in total, from the cave, which can only be accessed by sea.

Police on Ponza, which is widely known for its spectacular cliffs, told CNN Wednesday that they had been watching the mouth of the cave in the Chiaia di Luna area. They believe the drugs, which are estimated to have a street value of more than half a million dollars, were intended for the summer tourist season, which is due to kick off with a three-day holiday this weekend.

A video published by the authorities showed that police divers had to access the tiny cave from a boat.

The 4th Naval Unit Squad of the Gaeta Naval Operations worked with the Ponza branch of the Guardia di Finanza financial police, which said in a statement Tuesday that the seizure was made by cave divers who accessed a tunnel to get to the cave.

“The investigative activity, carried out through intelligence services, territorial observation, and monitoring of suspicious movements, led to the identification of a significant quantity of narcotics intended to fuel the illicit market during the summer season,” they said.

“This is a significant achievement that demonstrates the professionalism and training of the personnel employed, capable of operating in particularly complex and difficult-to-access environments.”

The drugs were thought to have been brought over by dinghy from Anzio on the mainland, police said.

Ponza’s mayor, Francesco Ambrosino, told local media that authorities are keeping a close eye on drug dealing on the island, which is just three square miles in size.

“The season has just begun. We expect 15,000 people to arrive for the upcoming weekend of Saints Peter and Paul: there are 3,000 residents,” he told La Repubblica.

“It’s clear that with these numbers, drug dealing can be a problem, but the seizures demonstrate that law enforcement is paying close attention. This is comforting.”

Ambrosino said the limited law enforcement on the island made it attractive to party-goers. Ponza has just five police officers, and they are mostly busy controlling traffic disembarking from ferries, he said.

Ponza —the largest island of the Pontine archipelago, which sits offshore between Rome and Naples — has long been popular with celebrities, including the late fashion designer Giorgio Armani, Beyoncé and Naomi Campbell.

Inhabited since the Neolithic era, it has also been a place of exile. Italy’s wartime fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was imprisoned here in July 1943 after he was overthrown and arrested. He was only on the island for 10 days in total — he was moved around while in detention in a bid to evade German forces who sought to reinstate him as leader.

By Barbie Latza Nadeau and Lianne Kolirin, CNN