Largest Synthetic Drug Lab in Navarra Dismantled: 20 Arrested
Guardia Civil and Policía Foral officers arrested 20 people and seized more than 220 kilograms of drugs in a joint operation, dismantling what sources reported as the largest synthetic drug production point uncovered in Navarra.
Raids Uncover Massive Drug Inventory in Navarra and Gipuzkoa
The investigation began in October 2025, after law enforcement analyzed information from previous drug cases pointing to an organized network spanning Navarra and Gipuzkoa. Over ten distinct phases, officers executed 19 searches across multiple towns. The raids uncovered an extensive inventory of illegal substances. Authorities seized 192,375 kilograms of speed, 11,152 kilograms of MDMA, 7,094 kilograms of cocaína, 7,428 kilograms of hachís, 905 grams of ketamina, 468 grams of marihuana, 86 grams of 2C-B, 15 grams of heroína, and 9,695 éxtasis pills, alongside liquid amphetamine and chemical precursors like methanol, sulfuric acid, and caffeine.
The total street value of all recovered narcotics hits approximately seven and a half million euros. Officers also confiscated five vehicles, two firearms, and cash. Ten of the twenty detained suspects have been ordered into provisional detention by the courts.
A Highly Professionalized Criminal Network
According to the Government Delegate in Navarra, Alicia Echeverria, the operation is one of the largest anti-drug operations registered in Navarra, which has allowed for the dismantling of an organized and highly professionalized criminal network.
The investigation was carried out jointly by the Organized Crime and Anti-Drug Team (EDOA) of the Judicial Police Organic Unit of the Civil Guard of Navarra and the Health Crimes Group of the Foral Police.
The core of the criminal network operated out of a residential property in Rada, Navarra, which functioned as a dedicated clandestine laboratory. The facility was organized into distinct spaces equipped with industrial blenders, sealers, scales, and pre-measured chemical containers. The network operated on a production-on-demand model, capable of manufacturing between 50 and 400 kilograms of speed per batch.
During the ninth phase of the operation, police caught the facility mid-production. Officers seized 103,180 kilograms of speed and 9,8 liters of liquid amphetamine directly inside the laboratory. The group employed a chemist from the Netherlands who traveled expressly to Rada to synthesize the drugs, staying only as long as necessary to complete each production cycle. This chemist, along with two residents who handled auxiliary tasks at the laboratory, were among the ten individuals remanded to prison.
Regional Distribution Hubs across Navarra and Gipuzkoa
The organization maintained a strict division of labor, separating manufacturing from adulteration, storage, and distribution. Investigators traced the supply chain through several towns before reaching the Rada laboratory. Noáin and Urnieta served as adulteration sites where workers cut the narcotics using caffeine and liquid amphetamine. Meanwhile, properties in Ribaforada functioned as storage depots, where authorities recovered 46 kilograms of speed packaged and ready for distribution.
The dismantling of the Rada laboratory cuts off a primary manufacturing pipeline supplying synthetic stimulants across northern Spain.
Security Forces Dismantle Largest Synthetic Drug Infrastructure in Navarra
The investigation began in Tudela, the residence of one of the main suspects, which allowed authorities to progressively uncover the organization’s structure. By monitoring the network, agents determined exactly when a new production cycle was scheduled to begin, enabling them to time the intervention perfectly. With this final strike, security forces have dismantled an infrastructure considered the largest ever located in Navarra for the production of synthetic drugs.