Poland Tops Wave of Global Drug Busts Totaling Tons of Narcotics

Law-enforcement agencies on three continents reported a string of major drug seizures on 19 August, underscoring the scale of the global trade in synthetic narcotics and the growing coordination among police forces. In the largest haul by value, Poland’s Central Bureau of Investigation said it had dismantled several interlinked smuggling networks operating across Europe and seized drugs worth about 1 billion zlotys ($275 million). Officers confiscated 600 kg of marijuana, 180 kg of hashish and 40 kg of amphetamine sulfate, along with seven firearms and ammunition. The probe, conducted with counterparts in Spain, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Scandinavia, targeted Polish nationals based in Spain who allegedly supplied multiple EU markets. Turkish authorities carried out two separate raids in Istanbul. Police in the Esenyurt district recovered 207 kg of methamphetamine and 98 kg of precursor chemicals, arresting two suspects. Hours later, the gendarmerie seized 7.9 million illicit tablets and another 63 kg of raw material thought sufficient to produce 1.3 million additional pills. Mexico’s customs agency said officers at Felipe Ángeles International Airport near Mexico City intercepted 286 kg of methamphetamine hydrochloride with an estimated street value of about $30 million. The shipment was discovered in a bonded warehouse used for air-cargo operations. Elsewhere, Iranian police reported the confiscation of 1.2 tonnes of crystal meth in the country’s north, while Iraqi and Lebanese security services announced the shutdown of what they described as the Middle East’s largest Captagon factory in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, seizing large quantities of pills. Taken together, the interdictions highlight intensifying efforts by governments to curb the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs, which have overtaken plant-based narcotics as a leading revenue source for organized crime.