Seven pistols and more than 250 rounds of ammunition were found hidden behind the altar of a Naples church last week, ANSA reported.

Carabinieri police found and seized the weapons at the Maria Santo Spirito degli Angeli di Miano church near a neighborhood where a feud between the Via Anella Grassi gang and a splinter group has broken out.

Police also seized 150 grams of marijuana and packaging material for selling it from a nearby rehabilitation centre. One of the rehabilitation center's detainees, 30-year-old Luca Cortese, was found with a precision scale, 40 grams of amphetamines and a special surveillance system in his room - an infrared video camera pointed at the centre's entrance. Cortese was already under house-arrest for other case.

Another resident of the rehabilitation centre, Francesco Comune, age 36 - also detained under house arrest in the centre - was found to have a copy of the keys to the church.

The pistols were sent to a special investigation division in Rome to verify whether they have been used to commit crimes.