A 33-year-old Albanian man living in Novara was caught with 0.7 kilogrammes of drugs in Tuscany Friday and admitted he had been supplying a controversial six-day illegal rave party straddling the borders of Tuscany and Lazio near Viterbo which ended Thursday amid rightwing recriminations against Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese.
The man was found with large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and hashish, police said.
The drugs were hidden in the car engine and under the windscreen, police said.
The man was arrested and taken into custody in a local jail near Siena.
His car was stopped at the Chiusi exit on the A1 north-south motorway.
The huge illegal rave party that brought young people from across Europe to a country site straddling Lazio and Tuscany was broken up early Thursday leaving piles of waste, at least four alcohol-induced comas and one drowning death in its week-long trail, plus a political furore as rightwingers attacked the interior minister over the alleged lack of policing of the event.
Two people were taken to hospital Thursday in a grave state of agitation after the rave.
Police from the nearby city of Viterbo put an end to the revels after identifying over 3,000 people and more than 1,000 vehicles. Prosecutors said they were investigating to establish if any crimes had been committed at the venue.
"The area has been liberated," said the mayor of the nearest town, Valentano, Stefano Bigiotti. "There is no longer anyone at the site. "I can only express satisfaction. "(Interior) Minister (Luciana) Lamorgese, who personally contacted me yesterday afternoon, kept her promise to free the area by today. "The operations were carried out with the utmost respect for persons.
"Now they are already at work to remove the rubbish left at the site as soon as possible".
The Viterbo police HQ said two vans with acoustic equipment aboard had been seized, one belonging to two Dutchmen and the other to two Italians. Viterbo's provincial public order panel asked the interior ministry to wind up the rave party. The unauthorized event, which had attracted young people from across Europe, had been going on in the countryside at Valentano since Friday night. "The situation is out of control, no negotiation is possible, public order must be restored, people identified and the responsibility for such a gathering established," said Lazio regional health councillor Alessio D'Amato.
Viterbo prosecutors, meanwhile, opened a probe into the death of a 25-year-old man at the rave. The man, born in London but resident in the north of Italy, was found dead in a lake near Viterbo Monday after taking part in the massive event. The man's body was found in Lake Mezzano. He had been seen going into the lake Sunday night and not coming out again. The interior ministry said Wednesday that police were working to "restore legality" in the area.
Rave attendees were reported later having a dip in the Saturnia Falls and the Flora Rover, in Tuscany.
Rightwing leaders Matteo Salvini of the League and Giorgia Meloni of Brothers of Italy (FdI) slammed Lamorgese for allowing the rave to take place.
Salvini said "Lamorgese ought to explain what she is doing to defend the health and safety of the Italians". He called the rave incident "madness". League sources criticized Lamorgese for discussing citizenship rights for migrant children born in Italy instead of addressing such "a major public safety emergency".
Meloni said: "after six days, with a dead boy, economic and environmental damage, health risks, the rave party ends at Mezzano Lake, without the State doing anything to prevent his disgrace. "A serious government would have invited the interior minister to resign".
Lamorgese's leftwing defenders said she had been tasked with a very tricky case and had restored order as soon as possible.
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