Golden garbage: Italian police recover mislaid ingots from junkyard

The man walked into a Carabinieri police ‌station in Porto Cesareo, near the city of ‌Lecce, to report that a casket containing 20 gold bars, worth about 120,000 euros ($142,000), had vanished, the police said in ⁠a ​statement. Investigators quickly ⁠traced the movements of the man, who was not named, ⁠and reviewed security-camera footage.

Police in ​southern Italy have salvaged ​a box of ‌gold ingots ​from a waste-sorting plant after an absent-minded resident accidentally threw ‌out the treasure with his household rubbish, officers said on Thursday. The man walked into a Carabinieri police ‌station in Porto Cesareo, near the city of ‌Lecce, to report that a casket containing 20 gold bars, worth about 120,000 euros ($142,000), had vanished, the police said in ⁠a ​statement.

Investigators quickly ⁠traced the movements of the man, who was not named, ⁠and reviewed security-camera footage. The images suggested the box had ​been tossed into a public bin at a ⁠nearby beach resort, and further investigations revealed it had been ⁠transferred ​to the local waste disposal facility.

"After several hours of careful sifting, the officers managed to find ⁠the box which, though damaged, still contained all the ⁠gold bars ... ⁠which were then returned to their rightful owner," the statement said. ($1 = 0.8415 euros) (Reporting ‌By ‌Gavin Jones, Editing by ​Timothy Heritage)