Italy Sardinia Island sand thief dem fit pay up to $3,650 fine - See di reason why

Plenty pipo dey face fines of up to €3,000 (£2,580; $3,650) sake of say dem remove beach sand and shells from di Italian island of Sardinia, local media report.

Authorities say on Saturday, dem report 41 pipo for di tiff-tiff of about 100kg (220lb) of items from beach for separate incidents.

Sardinia popular white sand dey treasured for di island and e dey forbidden to remove am.

Dem make di trade for Sardinian sand, pebbles and shells illegal for 2017.

Di fine wey dem go impose fit dey heavy, but for years, islanders don complain about di tiff-tiff of dia natural assets.

Tourists, mainly Europeans and including some Italians dey bottle di sand to keep am as souvenirs or auction am online.

As part of one ongoing investigation, military and customs police for Sardinia don dey monitor airports and harbours, and dem dey also search websites for illegal sales. Dem don catch tourists wey dey attempt to remove di bottled sand for dia luggage during customs checks wen dem use X-rays.

Police tok say for recent days, dem bin discover dozens of online adverts for di sale of items wey dem collect from di Mediterranean island coasts illegally, some for wetin dem describe as "high prices".

Dem don report di details of those wey dem accuse of wrongdoing to di Forestry Corps (national state police) of Sardinia and dem dey face fines under di island regional law.

Di police dem don already collect about €13,000 as fines dis year, adding say dem bin wan return di items wey dem seize to di areas from wia dem dem take dem from.



For one Facebook page wey dem set up to highlight di issue dem call "Sardinia robbed and plundered", users dey usually describe di threat of such theft as environmental emergency.

Pierluigi Cocco, wey be environmental scientist and resident of di Sardinian capital Cagliari, tell di BBC say, di beaches na "di main reason why tourists dey attracted to di island of Sardinia".

For some pipo, im tok say, to take di sand home serve as a reminder of "treasured memory".

But im add tok say, di removal of sand fit contribute to di reduction of beaches over di years, wey go pose environmental threat as climate change dey bring about rise for sea levels.

Di island Forestry Corp don also tok say to take di sand continuously fit destroy Sardinia beaches, wey dem create over millions of years.

For 2019, dem catch one French couple wey visit Sardinia with 40kg of sand for di boot of dia SUV.

Police discover di sand wey dem pack put inside 14 plastic bottles wey dem take from one beach for Chia, southern Sardinia.

Di couple tell police say dem wan carry di sand go house as "souvenir" and dem no realise say dem don commit offence.