MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - Russian police have shut down a drug lab in the Tula region, having seized over 500 kilograms of mephedrone and 700 liters of precursors, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.
"The perpetrators made and sold drugs in the Moscow and Tula regions. Over 500 kilograms of mephedrone and alfa-PVP, as well as about 700 liters of precursors were seized from illegal circulation. The forbidden substances were sold by an online store," Kolokoltsev said at a meeting of the State Antidrug Committee.
The police found that two partners in crime made synthetic drugs at a laboratory in a private house in Bolokhovsky, the Kireyevsk district of the Tula region, in January-April 2023. Their accomplices distributed the drugs through dead drops.
The group perpetrated at least 240 drug-related crimes.
The police detained 16 people on counts of illegally producing, distributing and transporting drugs. They were placed under arrest.
An investigator has opened a criminal case into the organization of and involvement in a criminal network.