MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. Police in Russia’s Urals region of Chelyabinsk have eliminated a clandestine laboratory where some 500 kilograms of synthetic drugs were produced every month, Interior Ministry Spokesperson Irina Volk said.

"My colleagues from the Chelyabinsk regional branch of the Interior Ministry’s Drug Control Department have eliminated a laboratory where about 500 kilograms of banned substances were synthesized every month," she wrote on Telegram.

Volk added that while inspecting the area, police discovered two caches containing some 18 kilograms of synthetic drugs. "In the lab, police officers found over 427 kilograms of narcotic drugs and about one metric ton of precursors. According to expert estimates, it would have made around one million doses <...> worth more than 1.5 billion rubles ($19 million - TASS)," the ministry spokesperson stated.

Police officers discovered the illegal lab in a private house in the Kartalinsky District of the Chelyabinsk Region, Volk went on to say. Two perpetrators used the house to produce the alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (PVP) drug. Once ready for sale, drugs were put into caches for couriers from other regions. Every stash contained 15-20 kilograms of drugs. "Two laptops, cell phones, a credit card and other items were found during a search at the residence of one of the suspects," Volk added.

The police operation also involved the National Guard. Criminal investigations have been launched based on Articles 30.3 and 228.1.5 of the Russian Criminal Code. The suspects have been arrested.

This is the second large drug lab that police have discovered in the region. According to available data, the suspects followed the orders of their handlers based abroad. Efforts are underway to identify and detain their accomplices and bosses.