Italian international prop Sami Panico, who plays for the Guinness PRO14 Italian franchise Zebre, allegedly had 1.5kg of marijuana, 330 grams of hashish and 10,000 Euros in cash stashed in the garden of his home in the town of Torvajanica, report Gazzetta Dello Sport.
Police seized the drugs and claim they come ‘from illegal activities’. Panico has been placed under house arrest pending further investigation in what is an extraordinary story even by rugby’s soap opera standards.
He is charged with posessing drugs for the purpose of sale or supply.
Panico (25), who is of Ethiopian descent who plays for Calvisano and was attached to Zebre rugby. He represented Italy on 10 occasions, the last of which was in 2017.
He has no been involved with the Italy team apparently having an altercation with teammate Luhandre Luus.