Russian authorities seized more than 100 kilograms of narcotics, over 600 kilograms of chemicals that could be used to manufacture illegal drugs, along with a lot of other drug paraphernalia from drug traffickers, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced Tuesday. 

The ministry said in the release that illegal production took place on a former farm located about two hours south of Moscow.

Besides the large scale and well-developed production facilities, authorities said the organization’s drug sales were carried out via an online store. Police described the group’s retail network as stretching from Moscow and St. Petersburg through Siberia and the Far East regions.

A ministry spokeswoman said that three Ukrainian chemical engineers, a drug mule, and the operation’s suspected organizer were detained.

This raid follows last week’s reports in Russian media that the Federal Security Service broke up a criminal group that operated its own large underground online drug market. In that case, authorities said that they seized 440 kilograms of drugs, including hashish, MDMA and mephedrone, worth 650 million rubles (US$ 10 million).

Besides the drug seizures, seven people described in the announcement as drug couriers were arrested in that operation.

occrp.org