Prague, June 28 (CTK) – The Czech and Dutch police arrested 58 people in a large drug raid and they seized 32 kilogrammes of synthetic drugs, three kilos of cocaine, 54 kilos of marihuana and more than 7000 litres of chemicals for drug production, their representatives told journalists on Tuesday.
The police were monitoring the drug gang from 2013. The Czech police checked the main organiser, a Dutch national, in relation to trading in LSD and ecstasy.
International police cooperation revealed that the Dutch man is connected with a network of drug producers and distributors who operated in Belgium, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
The gang carried out its real activities, the drug dealing, under the cover of a fictitious company that rented equipment for parties and was seated in the Netherlands.
The police arrested the main organiser in Strakonice, south Bohemia, in April. On the same day, the Dutch police intervened in 124 other places.
Czech Anti-Drug Centre head Jakub Frydrych said the man did not put up resistance during the arrest.
During the raid, the police also seized six drug production laboratories and eight cannabis-growing facilities.
The Czech Republic played a role on the illegal drug market as a significant source of marihuana. The cannabis was grown in three buildings in south Bohemia, hidden in farms.
Frydrych said hired couriers smuggled large amounts of marihuana abroad, mostly to Poland.
The synthetic drugs smuggled to the Czech Republic were produced in the Netherlands and Belgium. They were distributed to five European countries by couriers in motor vehicles.
The main organiser was extradited to the Netherlands.
Pieter de Bruijn, from the Dutch police, said the man was taken into custody and he faces up to 12 years in prison for organising the drug crimes.
De Bruijn said the man lived on welfare benefits, but owned expensive cars and real estate and enjoyed luxurious holidays. At the same time, he officially did not own any property, de Bruijn said.
The man had a girlfriend in the Czech Republic and he regularly visited her.
