Carabinieri have arrested two men in the Brescia area over illegal firearms and poaching of protected species, with weapons and birds found during checks in Artogne and Nave. In Artogne, police seized a single-shot smoothbore shotgun and 22 cartridges after they found the weapon hidden in the rafters of a derelict outbuilding near the suspect’s home. The 51-year-old, with prior offences, was caught without a hunting licence or permission to carry or possess firearms. Officers also seized two dead pettirosso birds and one dead scricciolo, along with two snap traps of the Sep type and a net used to capture birds. In Nave, the 59-year-old was arrested after a home check showed he held firearms without having them reported. He had no hunting licence and had been subject to a prefectorial order since 2007 banning him from possessing weapons. That operation led to the seizure of two double-barrel hunting shotguns and 246 cartridges. Police also recovered three dead pettirosso birds and one dead fringuello stored in a freezer. Both men are facing criminal and administrative proceedings. The arrests were carried out during recent anti-poaching operations by the Carabinieri’s anti-poaching unit and local forest police in the Bresciano area, where carabinieri said the phenomenon is long established.