European investigators have uncovered an international synthetic drug production network operated from Poland, seizing more than 9,3 tons of narcotics and arresting over 100 suspects, Polish prosecutors said.
The operation targeted a criminal group suspected of importing chemical precursors from China and India and producing synthetic drugs in more than 20 illegal laboratories for distribution across the European Union, Reuters reports.
The prosecution alleges that the group operated a complex international supply chain: large quantities of chemicals were legally imported, then repackaged and directed to illegal drug production laboratories in Poland and Western Europe. Poland served as a logistics hub.
Footage released by Polish police shows raids on suspects' addresses by armed officers, as well as huge stockpiles of chemicals in plastic containers and distillation equipment.
The investigation was launched in 2022 by Polish anti-narcotics investigators, and then grew into a multi-state operation.
Authorities dismantled more than 20 illegal laboratories and production lines in Poland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, and seized more than 9,3 tons of narcotics, large quantities of chemical precursors and property.
The prosecution did not provide an estimate of the value of the seized drugs, according to Reuters.
Europol, the EU agency for fighting international and organised crime, has facilitated the exchange of intelligence and the coordination of police actions across borders, prosecutors said.
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