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Malaga
Friday, 23 August 2024, 18:42
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As part of Operation Globo ('balloon'), officers from the customs surveillance unit in Malaga and the National Police's specialist team battling drugs and organised crime on the Costa del Sol (Udyco) have carried out several operations in which they have identified three organisations dedicated to the bulk sales of nitrous oxide - often known as 'laughing gas'. As a result of the police raids six people have been arrested and 4,200 kilos of the gas have been seized.
Investigations began in May and led to the location of three illegal warehouses storing the gas cylinders, according to an official police statement.
The three different raids were carried out between June and July, leading to the seizure of 4,139 bottles containing nitrous oxide. The raids took place in the Costa del Sol towns of Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Marbella.
As a result of these raids, six people were arrested who were in charge of the logistics for getting the goods into Spain and then distributing them across the country. Balloons and filling nozzles used for inhaling the gas were also seized.
The weight of the substances seized comes to over 4,200 kilos, that means a volume of more than three million litres of this gas. The total value of what was seized is estimated at around 300,000 euros and legal proceedings are under way in the courts of Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Marbella.
Nitrous oxide comes in the form of a volatile, colourless gas, and is used as a therapeutic drug under strict medical controls. It is also one of the few drugs used for illegal purposes that comes in a gaseous state. When inhaled it expands in the lungs so that it reaches the brain through the airways, acting as a central nervous system depressant, causing a state of euphoria and even hallucinations.
It is consumed by inhaling the gas contained in a balloon that acts as a storage space for the individual doses to be administered. Each dose sells for around ten euros.
The Spanish agency for medicines and health products (Aemps) estimates that its non-medical use poses health risks, causing damage to the central nervous system and the lungs of an otherwise healthy body. In addition, it can lead to further, more serious health problems and even death.
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