THREE people have been charged almost a year after the UK's first known nitazene laboratory was uncovered in Ayrshire.
Ayrshire Weekly Press can exclusively reveal the details after Police Scotland confirmed the arrests this week.
In September 2025, we reported that the drug lab producing potentially deadly synthetic opioids had been found in the region.
Speaking to the Scottish Parliament's oversight board at the time, Deputy Chief Constable Jane Connors did not state the exact location of the discovery.
But it can now be revealed that the site was based in Patna.
And two men and a woman were arrested and charged in connection with the find just last month.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A 29-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman have been arrested and charged in connection with offences in relation to serious organised crime.
"A 34-year-old man who was also involved has been arrested and charged in connection with money laundering and fraud offences. Reports have been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal."
The Crown Office told us that Lewis Reid, 29, appeared on petition at Ayr Sheriff Court on August 19. He was initially remanded in custody, then fully committed on August 27 and bailed for further examination.
Erin Sanderson, 23, also appeared on petition on August 14 and was bailed.
Meanwhile, 34-year-old Brian Morton appeared on petition on August 20 and was also bailed.
Revealing the East Ayrshire drug lab last year, Deputy Chief Constable Connors told Holyrood: "We actually had a nitazene lab in Ayrshire that policing found and it is the first one in the UK.
"We believe that having taken some of those presses and the pills off the market may well have contributed to a 41 per cent reduction in benzodiazepine, which is another type of drug that we’re focusing on.”
She added: "The harm that drugs cause in our communities is absolutely huge.
"Some of the successes we have had are with serious and organised crime gangs that are using pill presses to produce tens of thousands of tablets.
"We have seen nitazenes and the potency of some of the chemicals that are used and we have talked before about the drug deaths that are linked to it."
There were 898 suspected drug deaths across Scotland between January and September last year, Police Scotland later said. That was an eight per cent increase on the previous year.
Ayrshire recorded the country’s second-highest drug death rate during that period, with 98 deaths. The latest drug death figures are expected to be published this week.
Earlier this year, Ayrshire Weekly Press published a five-week series examining the reported effects of nitazenes and similar synthetic drugs on communities.
The series reported evidence linking the substances to a number of later deaths in Ayrshire over recent years.
