- In the operation 10 people have been arrested and 790 liters of methamphetamine have been intervened in different phases of solidification and crystallization, 70 kilos of methamphetamine-crystal and about 2 tons of drug precursors
- The delegate of the Government in the Basque Country, Marisol Garmendia, highlights that "it is evident the advantage of this Body and its global action, beyond any border"
- The laboratory where synthetic drugs were made is one of the most sophisticated discovered in Spain
The Civil Guard, within the framework of the operation “HEISENBERG VI-CABARNA”, carried out in Cantabria, the Basque Country, Leon and Catalonia, has dismantled in the Catalan region of Vallés a laboratory for the production of synthetic drugs, one of the most sophisticated discovered in Spain with the capacity to produce a large amount of methamphetamine. Ten people were arrested in the operation, four in Bizkaia, four in Barcelona and two in León.
The details of this important operation have been revealed in the press conference offered this morning at the Sansomendi Barracks in Vitoria with the presence of the Government delegates in the Basque Country and Cantabria, Marisol Garmendia and Eugenia Gómez, General José Antonio Mingorance and the heads of the judicial police of the Basque Country and Cantabria, Captains José González (responsible for the operation) and Alfonso Serrano.
The delegate of the Government in the Basque Country, Marisol Garmendia, stressed that “it is evident the advantage of this Body and its global action, beyond any border. Thus, it is possible that an operation begins in Cantabria, the research is led by the Basque Country and leads to the dismantling of a synthetic drugs laboratory in Catalonia.”
For her part, the government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia González has stressed that “the amount of methamphetamine seized is one of the most important in recent years, which demonstrates the magnitude of the operation. The Government of Spain will continue to work firmly and decisively to combat drug trafficking and protect public safety.”
The captains have explained that 70 kilos of crystal and powder methamphetamine, 790 litres of methamphetamine in different stages of crystallization, 60 litres of Piperonyl Methyl Ketone (PMK) and Phenyl Metal Propanone (BMK - P2P), two of the main elements for the manufacture of amphetamine, 112 kilos of other precursors and powdered cutting substance and more than 1,700 litres of other precursor substances for the manufacture of amphetamine and methamphetamine have been involved in this operation.
It should be noted that the laboratory was in full operation with utensils such as test tubes, flasks, heaters, low temperature coolers, evaporators, constant speed agitators, low temperature circulators and refrigerators.
The investigation began last year, when agents were able to verify thanks to a warning from the Civil Guard of Cantabria of the existence of a person resident in Bizkaia, who usually received quantities of drugs that were delivered to him by the carrier of another criminal organization based in the province of Barcelona.
Continuing with the investigations, the Civil Guard located the laboratory in which the drug was made and which was later transported by a member of the organization that did it at the national level. Two other members who were responsible for its distribution at the international level were also located.
The disarticulated organization had established its center of operations in the Catalan region of Vallés, both for the production and distribution of synthetic drugs. Once it was prepared, it was distributed by several Spanish provinces such as Alicante, Bizkaia, Valencia or Andalusia, as well as by several countries of the European Union.
It should be noted that one of the members of the organization lived in an intermediate room of a house in Granollers, where the laboratory was located, which posed a potential danger to the people and goods that faced the storage of large quantities of these chemicals when they were in an urban area.
Many of these substances were highly toxic and highly flammable, such as methanol, to which variations in humidity, pressure and thermal or mechanical changes can alter their explosive properties, so it was supported by personnel and specialized means to dismantle the laboratory safely. To these risks we must add the environmental damage caused by the waste products that are generated in these laboratories and that in this case they poured directly into the sewerage network.
It has been found that the laboratory could synthesize between 5 and 10 kilograms per day of drug, which would have reached a final production of 1.5 tons of drug.
Powerful air extractors with carbon filters to prevent odor
In any case, in terms of the quantity of drug produced, finished product seized, quality of the laboratory assembly and knowledge of its operator, it can be said that we are dealing with one of the most complex and sophisticated of those discovered so far, as well as one of the most productive. The laboratory had powerful air extractors with carbon filters to prevent the smell from being perceived by neighbors.
Travelling lab
The locations where “the chemist” of the organization, now detained, has had the laboratories established sporadically have been in the localities such as Derio (Bizkaia), Valencia de Don Juan (León) or Granollers. This has caused the investigation to be very complex, since the detainees took strict security measures, with continuous changes in the location of the laboratory, sometimes at distances of 600 kilometers.
The operation has been conducted by Examining Court No. 1 of Granollers in Barcelona.
For more information, please contact the OPC of the Civil Guard in Vitoria-Gasteiz at 627.665.032.