European police said on Wednesday they had busted a major synthetic drug ring working across several countries in the "largest-ever operation" of its kind, striking a "massive blow" to organised crime.
Authorities dismantled 24 industrial-scale labs and seized around 1,000 tonnes of chemicals used to make street drugs such as MDMA, amphetamine and meth.
"I've been in this business for a while. This is by far the largest-ever operation we did against synthetic drug production and distribution," Andy Kraag, head of Europol's European Serious Organised Crime Centre, told the AFP news agency.
"I think this is genuinely a massive blow to organised crime groups involved in drug trafficking, specifically of synthetic drugs."
The year-long operation involved police from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
More than 85 arrests were made, including the two suspected ringleaders, both from Poland, Kraag said.
Suspicions were raised back in 2024 when Polish police noticed a network importing vast quantities of legal chemicals from China and India.
Investigations later showed these chemicals were being repackaged, mislabelled and redistributed across the European Union to labs that manufactured the synthetic drugs.
The majority of those arrested were from Poland, but Belgian and Dutch nationals are also thought to have been involved in the criminal operations.
'Supply-chain strategy'
Kraag said the operation was part of a "supply-chain strategy" to choke off the synthetic drug industry at its source.
"These criminal groups, they don't have their supply anymore," he said.
Aside from the health risks associated with using these drugs, Kraag pointed to the related problems of violence, corruption and money-laundering in this criminal field.
Synthetic drug production also carries a damaging environmental impact, he noted.
Authorities seized more than 120,000 litres of toxic chemical waste that the criminals usually dump on land or in streams.
"Today, it's profit for criminals. Tomorrow, it's pollution," said Kraag.
Police have other targets in their sights following the successful operation announced on Wednesday by Europol, the EU police agency.
"This is one of the biggest distributors. But it's not the only one. So we're still looking," Kraag warned.
