Europol on Tuesday announced that a European policing operation has led to the arrests of 16 suspects and the seizure of 4.7 tons of methamphetamine.

Law enforcement agencies from the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Slovakia were involved in the operation targeting an organised criminal syndicate.

What did investigators uncover?

The group is believed to have used a Romanian company to purchase raw materials and mix them into pharmaceutical products consisting of 50 and 120 milligrams tablets of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, a Europol statement said.

They were then able to extract the substances for the production of methamphetamine in "clandestine laboratories."

The tablets which were produced in Romania were shipped to companies in a number of European countries. These companies purchased the tablets without marketing authorization.

The tablets never reached declared destinations but were instead sent to locations in Poland.

Shipments were then divided into smaller quantities and sent to clandestine laboratories in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Europol said that between January 2021 and February 2023, the criminal syndicate arranged the transport and delivery of over 168 million tablets containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, from which 4.7 tons of methamphetamine could be produced.

(kb/ar)