Police uncover industrial-scale drug lab in Vilnius district

Lithuanian law enforcement has uncovered what may be one of the largest synthetic drug laboratories to have operated in the Baltic states, LRT reported. The facility produced amphetamine and methamphetamine on an almost industrial scale, and authorities seized drugs that could have been used to prepare about four million doses.

Saulius Briginas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, said the laboratory was found during an exceptional operation. Officers seized more than 500 kilograms of methamphetamine, 300 kilograms of amphetamine, about 4.5 kilograms of synthetic cathinones and around 300 litres of phenylpropanone, also known as BMK, a key precursor used to make psychotropic substances.

Briginas said the drugs may have been destined for other European countries, including the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Belgium. During the operation, officers also intercepted a shipment containing 17 kilograms of methamphetamine crystals at a Lithuanian logistics company, preventing a planned smuggling operation, he said.

Law enforcement officials suspect that a Dutch citizen of Turkish origin may have organised the drug production in Lithuania. More than 60 officers took part in the operation, and searches at the laboratory lasted for more than three days.