The Mossos have arrested the three people responsible for a clandestine drug laboratory that exploded on March 19 and which was located at a home in Olivella (Garraf). They are between 39 and 63 years old and the police attribute crimes against public health, belonging to a criminal group, false documents and damages due to imprudence. They would be part of a criminal group that functioned as a business network.
The principal investigated and another member of the band, acquired the material to create the laboratory. A third man, who was the father of the leader, rented the house and two other people were in charge of obtaining the chemical substances through their own companies and falsifying commercial documents to make the purchases appear legal.
The investigation began on March 19 when the explosion at the facility took place. The Mossos received a notice around 4:30 p.m. The firefighting services were the first to act at the scene, while several citizen security patrols cordoned off and protected the area.
Inside the building, the Firefighters were able to observe a large number of drums of different chemical products, for which they activated the TEDAX and the Criminal Investigation Division of the South Metropolitan Region. Once the fire was extinguished and the home was secured, the TEDAX entered and located more than 25 drums of different capacities with chemical products, such as methanol, alcohol, isopropyl, acetic acid, as well as several bags with other substances.
The TEDAX also found the remains of a synthetic drug manufacturing laboratory in the room of the house where the explosion originated. Among the material found, a still stands out, which is usually used for distillation or separation of chemical substances in the field of medicinal, pharmaceutical, chromatography or petrochemical chemistry, and a reactor, used to carry out biochemical and synthesis reactions at a constant temperature. Likewise, they detected several basins that contained remains of synthetic drugs. After analyzing the substance, the police determined that the predominant active ingredient was amphetamine.
On the 19th, and once any possible terrorist link had been ruled out, the investigators carried out an entry and search of the affected address. This intervention was supervised by the duty court of Vilanova y la Geltrú. The economic valuation of the damage to the property, added to the cost of the debris removal tasks, amounts to more than 100,000 euros.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the criminal group stopped manufacturing amphetamines. However, he continued to develop other criminal activities related to drug trafficking and the sale of hashish and marijuana. At the same time, the members of the group began to look for other houses with conditions similar to those of Olivella, with the presumed intention of setting up another laboratory.
On July 19, with all the indications that determined the participation of the investigated, the exploitation phase of the case was carried out, where the police arrested the three main investigated and in which three entries and searches were made at the homes of Roda de Berà (Tarragonès), Piera (Anoia) and Sant Esteve Sesrovires (Baix Llobregat), as well as several vehicles parked in a plot of Coma-ruga.
At the entrances, 165 kilos of hashish, one marijuana and more than 30,000 euros in cash, an electric defense and what seemed to be a package containing solar panels, where a device with a remote control had been incorporated that served to camouflage the narcotic substances during shipments. The agents also found a room prepared for a disused marijuana plantation. On July 21, the detainees were handed over to the investigating court number 8 of Vilanova i la Geltrú. The investigation is still open and further arrests are not ruled out.
