14 tonnes of drugs, over 340 million cigarettes and more than 317 tonnes of tobacco were intercepted by the Central Bureau of Police Investigation (CBŚP) in 2023. Officers of this unit dismantled 56 synthetic drug laboratories, 34 cannabis plantations, 22 illegal cigarette factories and 8 tobacco cuttings factories. They also secured assets belonging to suspects worth over PLN 864 million.

“2023 turned out to be a record year in terms of eliminating drugs from the market. Thanks to CBŚP officers, a total of over 14.2 tonnes of drugs did not reach the black market (2022 – over 11.1 tonnes), of which approximately 2.7 tonnes were intercepted outside Poland, just as in 2022”, said Deputy Superintendent Iwona Jurkiewicz, spokeswoman of the CBŚP.

The spokeswoman added that CBŚP closed 14 more places where criminals were producing synthetic drugs. The number of detected cannabis plantations also increased by 14.

“In the course of the operations, drug precursors and chemicals used for the production of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were also secured, which prevented the production of huge quantities of drugs. The above results are also a result of cooperation of the CBŚP with services operating in Poland and abroad”, said the officer.

Last year, CBŚP officers confiscated 1374 units of illegal firearms, and the year before – 599. Thanks to the Bureau’s work, evidence was collected allowing charges to be brought against nearly 3,800 people. Almost three-quarters of them (about 2,500) are charged with participating in an organised criminal group.

Referring to the fight against tobacco crime, the spokeswoman pointed out that thanks to a good reconnaissance of the criminal environment, 22 factories were dismantled, and more than 340 million cigarettes were secured. This is almost 100 million cigarettes more than the previous year. Eight tobacco cuttings factories were also dismantled, with over 317 tonnes of tobacco intercepted.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński