A gigantic laboratory making ecstasy has been dismantled on the outskirts of Valencia, the Spanish police announced Wednesday.
In a scene that could have come out of the US television series "Breaking Bad", police moved in after noticing chemical smells, observing comings and goings of large plastic vats, and seeing people wearing industrial masks and changing clothes as they emerged from a building in a hilly, wooded suburb of the coastal city.
On January 17, the police made 12 arrests and seized 1,900 litres of MDMA, or ecstasy, 1,000 litres of other chemicals to make ecstasy, and 1,000 litres of chemical residues.
The police said they found decanters, ovens, test-tubes, precision scales, and protection gear.
The seized material was enough to produce more than two tonnes of amphetamines, the police said.
Of the 12 arrests, four have been ordered held in prison.
In addition to belonging to a criminal organisation and producing illegal products, those arrested are being pursued for environmental crimes for having released untreated chemical residues in nature.