Apartment raid finds drug lacing lab, firearms
Police on Wednesday found an illegal drug lacing lab as well as multiple firearms in a central Athens apartment in connection with the arrest of a 65-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman.
The pair were arrested on the basis of intelligence on the Attica drug trade, specifically cocaine, heroin, and cannabis oil.
Drug lacing equipment and supplies were found in the apartment, including 9,635 grams of an unidentified white powder, and 47,850 grams of heroin lacing material.
In addition to the drugs, three pistols, two revolvers, two old military-grade rifles, a hunting rifle, a silencer, a folding knife, 3,476 cartridges, and 80 blank cartridges were found in the apartment, alongside 12 magazines, 21 detonators, 500 grams of solid explosives, four slow-burn fuses, two pairs of handcuffs, €7,790 in cash, 440 Swiss Francs, US$20 and 16 gold sovereigns.
The lacing of pure drugs with non-narcotic substances is usually done to sell a greater amount of a seemingly pure product, but the cutting (lacing) agents usually contain toxic substances, such as rat poison, or are mixed with other, more powerful drugs, such as fentanyl.
