[Regnum] Federal Security Service (FSB) officers have uncovered a network of drug labs in villages along the White Sea coast. This was reported on October 26 by the FSB Directorate for the Arkhangelsk Region.
Law enforcement officers detained a 41-year-old native of the Tyumen region who, on orders from his handlers, purchased laboratory equipment and several batches of precursors. He and his accomplices manufactured drugs in several laboratories, which they then sold in the Arkhangelsk region and beyond.
The laboratories were located in remote areas of the Arkhangelsk region, including on the White Sea coast and in villages in the Kholmogory and Primorsky districts. The Tyumen resident, using a self-built boat, navigated freely along the Northern Dvina River and the White Sea.
Upon his arrest, FSB officers discovered precursors on the boat, which, according to experts, were manufactured in a foreign-made 100-liter reactor. The total weight of the seized chemicals was approximately 830 kg. These could have been used to manufacture over 50 kg of synthetic narcotics.
The Investigative Department of the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 5 of Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“Preparation for the illegal production of narcotics on an especially large scale”).
A drug lab was previously discovered in the Novgorod region. Law enforcement officers seized over 1.1 tons of illegal substances. The criminals manufactured the substances under the direction of anonymous handlers. The six detainees are residents of various regions of Russia, three of whom have previous convictions.