The operation took around a year and mobilized security forces from Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. “It is, by far, the largest operation we have ever carried out against the production and distribution of synthetic drugs”, says the director of Europol’s European Center for Combating Organized Crime.
A a European cooperation agency that includes announced this Wednesday that it had carried out “the biggest operation ever”, dismantling a network of production and trafficking of synthetic drugs in several countries.
The director of Europol’s European Center for Combating Organized Crime, the Dutch Andy Kraag, told the French news agency AFP that 24 laboratories were dismantled, a thousand tons of chemicals used to manufacture MDMA, amphetamine and methamphetamine were seized, and 85 arrests were made, mostly of Polish citizens, but also Belgians and Dutch.
“I have been working in this area for some time. This is, by far, the largest operation we have ever carried out against the production and distribution of synthetic drugs. It represents a serious blow to criminal groups involved in drug trafficking and, more specifically, synthetic drug trafficking”, he continued.
Operation involved six countries
According to the police officer, the investigation and operation took around a year and involved security forces from Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Suspicions arose in 2024, when Polish police discovered a large quantity of illegal chemicals coming from China and India, later realizing that these chemicals were repackaged and fraudulently labeled for distribution to other countries for the production of synthetic drugs.
Kraag highlighted that the manufacture of that type of drug also has a major environmental impact, with authorities also seizing 120,000 liters of toxic chemical waste, which criminals often dump into soil or waterways.
