Police smash European synthetic drug ring in 'largest-ever' op

European police said 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, Report informs via AFP.

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 AFP in an interview.

The profits generated were "considerable", Polish police said at a press conference in Warsaw. For every euro spent on drug production, traffickers made approximately 30 euros in profit.

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.