• During the searches 450 kilos of speed have been intervened, one of the biggest stains of this substance discovered so far in Spain, 500 liters of precursors, 140 marijuana plants, more than 10 kilograms of marijuana buds, 7,500 euros in cash, five vehicles and a long weapon, in addition to the items used in the laboratory for the production.
• Marisol Garmendia: “We must congratulate the National Police for its effectiveness in dismantling these criminal plots and preserving the health of Basque citizens”
• Seven people have been arrested - six men and one woman - allegedly related to criminal activity, three of whom have been placed in pre-trial detention, although new arrests are not ruled out in an ongoing investigation.

Agents of the National Police, in collaboration with the Colombian Police, have dismantled a criminal organization based in the Basque Country and dedicated to the production and distribution of amphetamine sulfate in a clandestine laboratory located in the province of Bizkaia. He was hidden in a rural enclave where agents suspected that the organization was preparing a new drug game. The exploitation of the operation resulted in the arrest of seven people and five registers where 450 kilos of speed, 500 liters of precursors, marijuana and cash were intervened.

The delegate of the Government of Spain in the Basque Country, Marisol Garmendia, and the Superior Chief of Police, Jesús Herranz, have detailed today the details of the so-called Operation Polaris at the National Police Headquarters in Basauri. The seized material has also been shown and some of the states through which the drug passes during processing have been explained.

Marisol Garmendia has highlighted the importance of the work of the National Police as well as congratulating it on this important success in the fight against crime. “We must congratulate the National Police for its effectiveness in dismantling these criminal plots and in preserving the health of Basque citizens,” he said. The Government delegate stressed the importance of the operation: “This is one of the biggest speed sorties seized in the history of Spain.” And he recalled that “The fact of having dismantled the laboratory at this stage of production has prevented all the waste - highly polluting - from being poured into the river near the hamlet that housed it, with the consequent environmental impact that it would have caused in the area.”

Strategic location

The investigation began in November last year when agents detected the existence of a possible clandestine laboratory in a single-family house in the rural area of Zeberio, where large quantities of amphetamine sulfate were produced and distributed. The strategic location of the laboratory made subsequent investigations extremely difficult since it was located in an isolated area, with hardly any traffic, from where they could control the accesses quickly alerting them to any police presence. In addition, it had all the necessary supplies for the production of the synthetic drug reflecting a great sophistication of the organization.

After the investigation, it was possible to identify the leader of the organization who turned out to be a successful businessman with multiple companies in different sectors and who used this facade to hide his true source of income. The investigators verified that the criminal organization was preparing a new batch of drugs, detecting last Tuesday a significant supply of precursors destined for the manufacture of narcotic drugs. The next day, the cook was intercepted after leaving the laboratory when he was transporting more than 25 kilos of amphetamine sulfate for distribution.

The exploitation of the operation was carried out with the realization of five records in Zeberio, Trucios, Barakaldo, Igorre and Galdames where the dismantling of the clandestine laboratory and a marijuana plantation was achieved. In addition, 450 kilos of speed, 140 marijuana plants, more than 10 kilos of marijuana buds, 7,500 euros, five vehicles (3 cars and 2 vans), a long weapon and material intended for the production and distribution of the drug were intervened.

500 kilos of speed a week

According to the agents’ estimates, from the seized drug and the precursor products found, the laboratory would have a potential production capacity of up to 500 kilos of amphetamine sulfate per week, making it one of the largest dismantled laboratories in the north of the country in recent years. Finally, seven people – 6 men and 1 woman – between 40 and 53 years of age were arrested as suspects responsible for the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization and drug trafficking.

The proceedings have been conducted by the Bilbao Examining Court No. 1, which has ordered the imprisonment of three of those arrested; the leader of the organization, the cook, and one of the residents of the aforementioned laboratory. Currently the investigation is still open with the analysis of the evidence intervened and no new arrests are ruled out within the framework of this operation.