BUENOS AIRES: Authorities in Argentina busted a large-scale synthetic drug lab, further demonstrating that domestic production of synthetic drugs is becoming more evident in the country, which is also a significant transit nation for drug smuggling.
On March 17, an anti-narcotics division of the federal police conducted 20 raids — dubbed “Operation Rola Fest”throughout the Buenos Aires metropolitan area on orders from a federal judge, reported Clarin.
One raid in a Buenos Aires suburb resulted in the arrest of 13 people and the seizure of over 12,000 pills, with material to prepare at least 40,000 more. The pills have been classified as ecstasy, although their exact chemical composition is still unknown.
Police also found drug-making equipment, 150 grams of Chinese crystal meth, precursor chemicals from Brazil, Germany, and Bolivia, and a large quantity of ibuprofen used to cut the drug. According to La Nacion, an investigator said the Argentines running the lab were “in charge of the whole process, from production to final sale.”
Two of those arrested were disc jockeys, and the group was allegedly planning on selling their pills at a price of around $22 per dose during the upcoming Lollapalooza festival in San Isidro.
The operation was the result of more than seven months of investigation into the drug ring, which operated in the northern Buenos Aires metropolitan area.
Security Minister Sergio Berni described the group members as “upper-middle class” who all drove imported cars, and that they would organize private parties in wealthy areas of the Buenos Aires to market their pills.
In recent years, synthetic drug production in Argentina has seen a remarkable increase, largely driven by demand from the country’s party scene.
