The Civil Guard has dismantled a large speed (methamphetamine) laboratory in San Sebastián, according to a statement from the armed institute on Wednesday. They claim that it is the largest installation in Europe dedicated to the production of this synthetic drug. Eight people have been arrested in the operation known as Pecueco, and the agents have seized over 770 kilograms of speed, 180,000 euros in cash, and twelve vehicles. The laboratory where the drug was produced was located in San Sebastián. The agents were able to locate it thanks to the arrest, in June of last year in Navarra, of a 42-year-old man who was transporting 40 kilograms of methamphetamine in his vehicle. He was caught at the toll booth in Zuasti, during one of the routine checks carried out in the weeks leading up to the San Fermín festival. The operation was led by the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard in Navarra, with support from the commanderies of Guipúzcoa, Asturias, León, and Madrid.
The man’s arrest, a resident of Bilbao, triggered an investigation that led the agents to locate several points where these drugs were being trafficked. In February of this year, a truck was intercepted in the town of Berrioplano, Navarra, carrying 42 kilos of speed, and a few days later, the Civil Guard located and arrested another truck in Zarauz (Guipúzcoa) with another 42 kilos of this drug. The investigators then found the laboratory where methamphetamine was being produced and packaged, located in offices on the outskirts of San Sebastián. From there, the drug was distributed throughout the country. The operation was divided into two phases. The first phase reached its peak on April 17, when the police conducted simultaneous raids on the laboratory and the homes of the “cook” and another member of the network. Around 600 kilograms of speed and numerous precursor substances for its production were seized in this phase. Additionally, 160,000 euros in cash were found in the home of one of the two detainees.
In a second phase, the investigators focused on the arrest of the transporters. At the beginning of May, a man with 18,000 euros in his vehicle was intercepted. He was arrested and brought before a judge. A few days later, two more raids were carried out at the homes of members of this organized group residing in Madrid. In one of them, over eight kilos of MDMA and multiple tools for the production of narcotic substances were found. The so-called “hides”, the hiding places that drug traffickers create inside these cars or trucks to conceal the drugs, were also found in their vehicles. In this second phase, another 170 kilos of speed were seized. The Civil Guard of Navarra announced on Wednesday the results of the operation, which concluded with the arrest of eight men aged 35 to 58 in Navarra, Guipúzcoa, León, and Madrid, and the seizure of 770.9 kilograms of speed, 8.2 kilograms of MDMA, 500 grams of hashish, precursor substances, 185,355 euros in cash, two knives, a gas-powered revolver, and twelve vehicles.
The investigation was initially led by the Court of Instruction number 1 of Pamplona and then by the Court of Instruction number 4 of San Sebastián.
