Twenty suspects face court indictment over drug offences in Plzen
The Regional State Prosecutor's Office in Plzen has indicted 21 people for the manufacture and sale of narcotic substances. Five of them formed an organised group.
Twenty suspects face court indictment over drug offences in Plzen
Prosecutors in Plzen have referred a case involving twenty people suspected of trafficking chemical precursors and subsequently producing narcotic substances to the court. They face sentences of up to twelve years' imprisonment.
The core of the gang was formed by five people who coordinated the importation of precursors from abroad. In May of this year, foreign nationals travelled to the Czech Republic with a shipment exceeding 115 kilogrammes of red phosphorus. This substance would have been sufficient to produce more than 350 kilogrammes of methamphetamine.
Another of the suspects was responsible for transporting precursors from the Iberian Peninsula. French customs officials discovered 460 kilogrammes of a medicine containing pseudoephedrine during an inspection of his shipment. This very chemical, together with red phosphorus, serves as the basic raw material in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Investigators established that the entire operation was managed by a man staying in a Plzen hotel. He allegedly stored chemicals in his flat there, passed them on to manufacturers, from whom he subsequently repurchased the finished product, and then forwarded it to dealers.
During a raid, police officers seized over one and a half kilogrammes of methamphetamine, three kilogrammes of red phosphorus, as well as iodine, ecstasy, ketamine, fentanyl patches, GBL and anabolic steroids. They also found six illegal drug laboratories, two firearms, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, over five hundred thousand crowns in cash and two cars. Part of the haul was a tablet-stripping machine—a so-called deblister machine with a capacity of 7,500 units per hour.
The age range of the suspects is wide—from a twenty-five-year-old to a sixty-six-year-old man. Five of them are currently serving sentences for previous criminal conduct.
Proceedings against one person have been terminated. It could not be established that he was aware of the contents of the transported shipment or of the possible use of red phosphorus.
Source: ČT24
Source: ČT24