Drug trafficking network dismantled in Bistrița-Năsăud: five detained, 75,000 lei confiscated
Prosecutors from DIICOT Bistrița-Năsăud have detained five people accused of drug trafficking and psychoactive substance distribution. The 37-year-old leader of the group prepared goods by spraying tea leaves with prohibited substances.
Five arrested following dismantling of psychoactive substance trafficking group in Bistrița-Năsăud
Five people were detained on 31 August by prosecutors from DIICOT — Bistrița-Năsăud Territorial Office, following the dismantling of a drug and psychoactive substance trafficking network, News.ro reports. The group is believed to have operated since 2018, and on Tuesday the judge of rights and freedoms at Bistrița-Năsăud Court received a proposal for 30 days of preventive arrest.
37-year-old leader with a "secret recipe" for preparation
According to investigators, the core of the group formed during 2018 on the basis of long-standing friendship relations. A 37-year-old man assumed the role of leader, coordinating the activity of other members and monopolising the preparation of substances.
"He was tasked with supplying the organised criminal group with psychoactive substances and preparing them for consumption by dilution and spraying over tea leaves, according to a 'recipe' that only he possessed," Bistrița police specified.
The substances thus prepared were handed over to network members for sale, and they remitted the money collected to the leader. Taking advantage of the dependent state of some accomplices, the leader rewarded them with quantities of narcotics instead of monetary remuneration.
A family member with a key role in distribution
Following the establishment of the group, other members joined the network. A significant role fell to a relative of the leader, who, on the basis of the family relationship, was assigned tasks involving preparation, supply and direct sale of prohibited substances.
The investigation established that, during the group's existence, the people under investigation and five other people — currently either serving custodial sentences or under preventive arrest in other cases — are believed to have procured, possessed, manipulated and sold psychoactive substances at the price of 50 lei per gram.
14 searches, 42 envelopes with vegetable matter and 75,000 lei seized
On Monday, 14 home search warrants were executed. Police discovered and seized:
- 42 envelopes containing various quantities of vegetable matter prepared for sale
- hand-rolled cigarettes capable of producing psychoactive effects
- various tablets undergoing expert analysis
- 75,000 lei and 2,140 euro
- other evidence materials
Operation with regional support
The operation was coordinated by the Bistrița-Năsăud Organised Crime Combat Service and DIICOT prosecutors, with the support of the Cluj-Napoca Organised Crime Combat Brigade, similar services from Sălaj and Maramureș counties, Bistrița-Năsăud County Police Inspectorate, Bistrița-Năsăud County Gendarmerie Inspectorate and Târgu-Mureș Mobile Gendarmerie Group.
Source: News.ro