OREANDA-NEWS  The police stopped the activities of a criminal syndicate for the production and sale of large quantities of drugs, supplying them to 20 regions, said the official representative of the Ministry of internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk. According to this information, drugs were produced in an underground laboratory in the Moscow region, and also imported to Russia from Europe.

"The activities of the criminal community, whose members carried out the entire cycle of drug trafficking, including smuggling from Europe to Russia, as well as production in an underground laboratory located in the Moscow region, were stopped. Especially large quantities of drugs were transported in specially equipped hiding places of cars in 20 regions of the Russian Federation", — noted Volk.

The police also managed to stop three shipments of particularly large quantities of drugs and to eliminate their distribution networks in four regions of the country.

"Seized more than 950 kg of various narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, 15 pieces of laboratory equipment, more than 160 kg of precursors and 1200 kg of chemicals, more than 15 kg of adulterated medicinal product used for the treatment of nervous disorders, counterfeit documents, law enforcement officers," added Volk.

The leaders of the group were detained, places of storage of drugs and schemes of their distribution were established. Only six regions, the police arrested 18 people, from the couriers to the leaders of the gang.

According to Volk, criminals made calculations by means of various cryptocurrencies and electronic payment systems.

Earlier, interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev in an interview with "AIF" told about the seizure of 1250 kg of drugs. He said that in 2018, the police revealed three times more cases of drug smuggling. "This year, two times more drug laboratories were liquidated. Now we bring to justice members of the organized criminal community who supplied "synthetics" from China, seized 1,250 kg of drugs, " the Minister said.

In July, the FSB announced the elimination of underground drug lab in the suburbs. It produced particularly large quantities of synthetic drugs, which were marketed through the Internet. The detainees were found and seized more than 14 kg of mephedrone drug, 20 liters of liquid that contains drugs, laboratory equipment and other chemical substances