Police officers from Hunedoara county, together with prosecutors of the Anti-Organized Crime Directorate (DIICOT) have discovered several clandestine drug labs arranged in studios in the city of Petrosani, in west-central Romania.

Nineteen people suspected of drug trafficking were taken in for questioning, reports local Mediafax.

The police officers and prosecutors carried out on Wednesday, October 11, three house searches at the homes of people suspected of setting up an organized criminal group and trafficking high-risk drugs.

Investigations revealed that, between 2016 and 2017, members of the criminal group manufactured high-risk drugs in clandestine laboratories organized in studios in Petrosani. The substances made in these labs were then sold in localities in Jiu Valley, a region in Romania best known for coal mining. However, the area is one of the poorest in Romania as most of the mines there were closed down.

A few days ago, police officers from Timis county, together with DIICOT prosecutors, discovered a ton of cannabis left to dry in a warehouse near Niţchidorf commune. The cannabis crop belonged to a German citizen of Romanian origin.

Moreover, in late September, DIICOT prosecutors seized a record of two tons of cannabis following searches in Mehedinti county.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com