perpetualdawn
Bluelighter
I ran the german vice article (https://www.vice.com/de/article/pkg...r-von-legalem-lsd-ermittler-nehmen-labor-hoch) through a translator, in case anyone want's to read it, sheds a bit of light:
11/10/22
US authorities have taken down several websites that were selling synthetic drugs such as amphetamines and LSD derivatives from Europe. This was announced by the US Treasury Department in a press release . Accordingly, one worked with "partners in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom". According to information from VICE, there were several raids, including on the Dutch laboratory Lizard Labs. LSD derivatives were manufactured there, which were also sold to Germany. Since these substances are new developments, some of them are legally available in Germany. This changes as soon as they are listed as prohibited substances in the New Psychoactive Substances Act, NpSG.
An insider confirmed to VICE that around 10 a.m. Tuesday, Lizard Labs' premises near Maastricht were searched. A video obtained by VICE shows police officers on the premises. The police are said to have confiscated laptops and mobile phones, but no substances. Employees of the chemistry laboratory were arrested and questioned. Nobody was arrested there. The Dutch police have so far neither confirmed nor denied the operation.
The crests of several law enforcement agencies currently visible on the Lizard Labs website
The raid at Lizard Labs could be related to a large-scale operation by the US Treasury Department and European law enforcement agencies, primarily targeting another website: therealrc.com. Synthetic opioids are said to have been shipped to the United States through this website. These are synthetically manufactured substances that have a similar effect to natural opiates, such as morphine.
Two Dutchmen, one Englishman and their nine companies have been sanctioned by the US government. "Between November 2018 and February 2021, [the suspects] generated millions of dollars in virtual currencies through the sale of illegal drugs," the press release said.
The trigger for the raids was a decision by US President Joe Biden, in which he held foreign organizations and websites responsible for the opioid epidemic in the US, among other things. Around 47,000 people die there every year as a result of an opioid overdose. The December 2021 decision empowers the Treasury Department, in coordination with Homeland Security, to sanction foreign companies suspected of drug smuggling. The action serves to "counter the global threat of illegal drug trafficking into the United States, which kills tens of thousands of Americans every year".