Prosecutors have released pictures of a Lanarkshire drugs factory capable of mass producing tens of thousands of dangerous street valium tablets an hour.
The operation was run at an industrial unit by Glasgow labourer Derek Dragsnes, who was jailed for four and a half years yesterday.
Images show sophisticated pill manufacturing machinery uncovered when police raided the premises at Springfield Road in the village of Salsburgh.
READ MORE: Mum humiliated as Asda worker 'accuses her of buying five-year-old son a scratch card'
The lengthy search found equipment spread out over six rooms, with the 171,000 pill per hour press in one and 53.3kg of white powder containing etizolam (street valium) that would have produced more than 300,000 tablets with an estimated street value of £165,600.
Elsewhere they uncovered 8.1kg of blue powder containing etizolam, capable of yeilding 50,700 tablets worth an estimated £25,350.
Three other rooms appeared to have been used for the mixing and preparation of the pills.
In addition to the tablets containing etizolam, a total of 3,476 tablets of similar appearance to the etizolam tablets and stamped with similar designs, some of which bore the mark “valium” on one side were also recovered and analysed.
Prosecutors told the court these tablets did not contain controlled drugs but were clearly designed to be sold as such to unsuspecting buyers.
Dragsnes’ illegal scheme was uncovered in October 2021 when police officers arrived at the premises with a search warrant.
They forced entry into the unit, and it was immediately clear that the property was being used as an etizolam lab on a commercial scale.
Further searches of the property and an analysis of the tablets was then carried out over a period of 16 days.
The 49-year-old was later apprehended at his Glasgow home by police officers with a search warrant.
They found three money counting machines, bank deposit bags, £8,000 in cash in £50 notes and a cardboard box containing a large quantity of mixed notes amounting to £104,270.
Dragnes initially denied all knowledge of the money but, as the police were leaving his address, he told them that he thought “there might be 108 grand in there”.
He was sentenced at the High Court in Livingston after pleading guilty at a hearing last month at the High Court in Edinburgh with being concerned in the supply of etizolam.
The offence was aggravated by the accused’s connections to serious organised crime.
David Green, Procurator Fiscal for Homicide and Major Crime, highlighted the role of and prosecutors and partners in securing a conviction in this case and removing a significant quantity of drugs from the black market.
He said: “This was a coordinated effort to detect significant quantities of illegal and harmful drugs. This individual is now serving a lengthy prison sentence. The Crown, working with the police, painstakingly built a case to disrupt a network of drug supply.
“With each case of this kind, we can help reduce the harm that these drugs inflict on Scotland’s communities.
“We are targeting all people who threaten communities across Scotland, not only drug manufacturers but also those who direct their movements. With each case of this kind, we can help reduce the harm these drugs inflict on those communities.”
READ NEXT:
Glasgow mum thrown from bike into path of bus after hitting huge pothole
Glasgow electrician hits council with £1210 bill after new car damaged by potholes
Rutherglen drugs bust uncovers £400k worth of herbal cannabis as three arrested
Two Glasgow hospitals 'close to collapse' as 27 ambulances queue outside Royal Infirmary
Investigators seize £1million Glasgow house linked to bankrupt businessman with '£120million debt'
