ROME, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A sophisticated marijuana-growing operation was discovered in a 43,000 square-foot tunnel under Rome, Italian police said.
Officers of Guardia di Finanza, Italy's financial police, said Tuesday they raided the operation near the city's central bank vaults Saturday, The New York Times reported.
Police reported finding marijuana in garbage bags and vacuum-packed containers, greenhouses with top-quality lighting and ventilation and irrigation systems. They confiscated 750 pounds of marijuana and arrested one person.
"We found three or four work coveralls, chemicals that would be used by experts, as well as a blackboard with work shifts on it. It was a regular business. It was a very sophisticated operation," said Stefano Corsi of the Guardia di Finanza.
Underground Rome is crisscrossed with an extensive network of tunnels and caverns, most dating to ancient times, with relatively constant temperatures, the newspaper said.
