Spanish police bust 'high-tech' meth lab

Spanish police have arrested 10 people and seized 70kg of meth after discovering a "high-tech" synthetic drug lab capable of producing up to 10kg of meth a day.
The Civil Guard operation began in February last year after officers noticed that a person in the Basque province of Biscay was receiving drugs from a criminal gang based in Catalonia, the Guardian reported.
The investigation was complicated by the fact that the mobile drug lab could be transported long distances across northern Spain, moving from the Basque Country to Castile and León and then to Catalonia, where it was finally confiscated.
When the Civil Guard tracked the lab to a property in the town of Granollers, 30km north of Barcelona, ​​they discovered a sophisticated and potentially deadly facility. It is equipped with charcoal filters to get rid of any odors that might attract attention.
"The laboratory was fully functional and equipped with test tubes, flasks, heaters, low-temperature coolers, evaporators, constant speed stirrers, low-temperature circulation pumps and refrigerators. Much of the substances seized were highly toxic and highly flammable - such as methanol - and have explosive properties , which can be altered by thermal or mechanical changes or by variations in pressure or moisture, which is why the laboratory had to be dismantled by specialized personnel with a specialized kit.This was not the only risk: waste products from these laboratories harm the environment, a in this case they were dumped directly into the sewer system," law enforcement said.
Officers seized 70kg of crystal and powder methamphetamine, 790 liters of methamphetamine in various stages of crystallization and 60 liters of piperonyl methyl ketone and phenylacetone - two key ingredients in the production of methamphetamine. Also found were 112 kg of powdery substances and other materials, as well as 1,700 liters of other liquid ingredients.
Once produced, the drugs were distributed both in Spain - in Alicante, Biscay, Valencia and Andalusia - and in other EU countries.
Four people were arrested in Biscay, as many in Barcelona and another two in Leon. | BGNES