Five suspects charged after police seize drugs worth up to €200,000

Five people have been charged after police seized about 2.7kg of suspected narcotic and psychotropic substances in an investigation across Lithuania, LRT reported Monday. The drugs could be worth up to €200,000 on the illegal market, Klaipėda County Police said.

The suspects are four men aged 22, 23, 25 and 27, and a 25-year-old woman. Police opened the investigation in February after receiving information that drugs were being distributed through an online app. Buyers allegedly paid in cryptocurrency and then received coordinates for locations where the substances were hidden.

In May, officers searched the homes of the 25-year-old man and woman in Klaipėda, finding about 76g of cannabis resin, 24g of cocaine, electronic scales and other items relevant to the investigation.

In July, searches in Palanga and Šiauliai at the homes of the three other men led to the seizure of about 79g of cannabis, 4g of cocaine, 42 electronic cigarettes containing the psychotropic substance THC, vacuum-sealing machines, scales and other items.

Officers later found caches in Klaipėda, Klaipėda district, Kaunas district and Šiauliai district. They recovered 43 vacuum-packed parcels of suspected drugs buried in the ground. Police officers from Šiauliai searched the caches in their district and seized the parcels there.

All five face charges of illegal possession of narcotic or psychotropic substances with intent to distribute, including possession of large or very large quantities. The 22-year-old suspect was initially remanded in custody, but that measure was later replaced by bail, a written undertaking not to leave and an obligation to report regularly to a police station. The other four were given less restrictive measures.

A prosecutor from the Organised Crime and Corruption Investigation Division of the Klaipėda Regional Prosecutor’s Office is overseeing the investigation. Illegal possession of a large quantity of drugs with intent to distribute carries a prison sentence of eight to 10 years; possession of a very large quantity carries a sentence of 10 to 15 years.