Italy: Gravestone maker accused of hiding drugs at cemetery

ROME – Italian police say officers found more than a kilogram (2.4 pounds) of cocaine allegedly hidden at a Rome cemetery and arrested a 42-year-old gravestone maker.

Police said Thursday that officers in plainclothes entered the Verano Monumental Cemetery after noticing a car going in at high speed. Police say the driver entered a chapel and removed the grave marker from a burial recess.

Officers reported finding cocaine, scales and other drug-related items in the hiding place on Wednesday.

A few meters (yards) from the first spot the police officers spotted another loose gravestone and found a handgun and ammunition.

Police identified the person arrested as marble worker who makes gravestones. He was detained on charges of drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons.