Psychoactive Substances worth Millions Seized

Investigators have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the production and distribution of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), with more than 100 types NPS having been seized in two laboratories in the provinces of Granada and Valencia, with a market value in excess of 12 million euro.

In addition, more than 4.5 million euro in cryptocurrencies have been blocked (Bitcoins, IOTA and LUMEN) have been blocked, being the largest intervention in Europe.

Nearly 800,000 doses of LSD have also been seized, registering the highest historical apprehension of this type of substance and derivatives within the EU.

The Guardia Civil, along with officers from the Tax Agency and the Austrian Police, carried out the investigation under the operation name “DRYER”. The investigation resulted in the dismantling of the criminal network in Spain and Austria, whose members are suspected of the production, development and distribution of NPS (New Psychoactive Substances) at an international level and money laundering through the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies, mainly Bitcoins.

The investigation began in 2015, with the interception of a package in Hof (Bavaria) by the German police, containing several types of these substances. The shipment, from a post office box in Ogijares (Granada), pointed to the existence of a criminal structure based in that province.

Investigators detected a large movement of packages and postal envelopes, sent from that post office box to more than 100 different countries, containing narcotic substances camouflaged as other products of recognised brands whose commercialisation is legal, such as additives for cement. or products to combat moisture.

After this operation there was a large conglomerate of companies and societies in several countries, some of them offshore, whose purpose was none other than to give an appearance of legality to the illicit activity they carried out and launder the economic benefits obtained.

The different international organisations, such as the WHO, the UN or the EU, or at the national level, the Government Delegation for the National Plan against Drugs, warn of the growing use of these products and the health risks that this entails. Currently, 620 new substances are monitored by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).