The road to prison was taken by five arrested who were involved in a ring that was brewing in a makeshift laboratorybased in Thessalonikilarge quantities of synthetic cannabis and mailed them in parcels to countries in Europe and America, where they were picked up by their customers. It is characteristic that the orders were placed on a special platform for the exchange of encrypted messages, and the transactions via electronic wallets – cryptocurrencies.

The five defendants, four Greeks and one Albanian (aged 29, 35, 58, 39 and 28 years old, respectively) apologized today to the 4th special investigator of Thessaloniki and with the agreement of the public prosecutor they were deemed temporary prisoners. Criminal proceedings had been brought against them for criminal organization, a distinguished case of drug possession and trafficking, as well as for money laundering from illegal activities, etc.

According to the case file, the first two are accused of being the “masterminds” of the ring, as they are credited with accepting the orders and preparing the drugs in the laboratory housed in a roof on the roof of an apartment building, in the center of Thessaloniki. The rest were “carriers” and among them a courier.

In their apologies, according to information, they denied the serious charges attributed to them. Depending on the role of each, the first two, among others, reportedly apologized that they were legally procuring – via the Internet – the raw materials and that they do not fall under the list of prohibited drugs. The rest claimed that they did not know the contents of the parcels they were carrying.

According to what became known, the seizure two months ago in Lithuania of eight postal packages – originating from Thessaloniki – containing synthetic narcotic substances mobilized the European prosecution authorities. Investigations followed in which police officers from the General Affairs Department of the Thessaloniki Narcotics Prosecution Sub-Directorate participated, while their Lithuanian colleagues, EUROPOL, as well as the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA of Athens) and employees of the State Chemistry Department participated.

Drugs, weapons and 126,000 euros were seized

In the improvised and well-organized laboratory as well as in a warehouse (in the area of ​​Triandria) as well as in other places searched, 43 kilograms and 254 grams of synthetic cannabis in solid form, over 6 liters of synthetic cannabis in liquid form, about 2 kilograms of treated cannabis in chocolate form, 92.2 grams of raw cannabis and 17 narcotic tablets.

In addition, two pistols, a stun gun, cartridges, non-volatile stun cartridges, three cryptocurrency electronic wallets, 11 mobile phones, synthetic drug production laboratory items and equipment and the sum of 126,220 euros were seized.

The investigations of EL.AS. are ongoing to ascertain the full scope of the criminal organization’s illegal activities and any connections with other similar networks.