{"id":9415,"date":"2026-01-21T15:51:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=9415"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:51:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:51:47","slug":"europol-busts-europe-wide-drug-ring-in-largest-ever-operation-drugs-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=9415","title":{"rendered":"Europol busts Europe-wide drug ring in \u2018largest-ever\u2019 operation | Drugs News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Hague-based agency for fighting international and organised crime says it has dealt \u2018massive blow\u2019 to narco traffickers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--no-avatars\">\n<div class=\"byline-content\">\n<p><span class=\"contributors-list__by-prefix\">By <\/span>Al Jazeera staff<!-- --> and <!-- -->News Agencies<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 21 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">21 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>European police have smashed a major network manufacturing synthetic drugs in illegal labs across several countries.<\/p>\n<p>Polish prosecutors announced on Wednesday that investigators had seized more than 9.3 tonnes of narcotics and arrested more than 100 suspects in an operation targeting \u2060a criminal network centred in the Central European country and spanning the European Union.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 2 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The operation dismantled 24 industrial-scale labs and seized about 1,000 tonnes of chemicals, imported legally from China and India, used to make street drugs such as MDMA, amphetamine and meth, according to news agency AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Andy Kraag, head of Europol\u2019s European Serious Organised Crime Centre, which coordinated police actions across borders, said the operation had dealt a \u201cmassive blow to organised crime groups involved in drug trafficking\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI\u2019ve been in this business for a while. This is by far the largest-ever operation we did against synthetic drug production and distribution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The yearlong operation involved police from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. Among those arrested were two suspected ringleaders, both from Poland, Kraag said.<\/p>\n<p>Laboratories and drug production lines were located in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland, which served as the logistical hub.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of those arrested were from Poland, but Belgian and Dutch nationals are also thought to have been involved.<\/p>\n<p>Suspicions were raised in 2024 when Polish police noticed a network importing vast quantities of chemicals from China and India.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators discovered they were being repackaged, mislabelled and redistributed across the EU to the labs.<\/p>\n<p>Kraag said the operation was part of a \u201csupply-chain strategy\u201d to choke off the synthetic drug industry at its source.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese criminal groups, they don\u2019t have their supply any more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hague-based agency for fighting international and organised crime says it has dealt \u2018massive blow\u2019 to narco traffickers. By Al Jazeera staff and News Agencies Published On 21 Jan 202621 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share European police have smashed a major network manufacturing synthetic drugs in illegal labs across several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}