US in biggest designer drug ring bust, with 225 arrests in five countries
Raids in five countries net synthetic products made in Asia and used to fund terror groups
US officials have announced the largest-ever bust of a global synthetic drugs ring, arresting 225 people in five countries and 35 American states.
Authorities seized 1.5 tonnes of "dangerous designer synthetic drugs" manufactured in Asia and trafficked to the US and Australia.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said Project Synergy began last December but culminated on Wednesday, when most of the arrests were made. The drugs are created in unregulated labs mainly in China and India, it said.
Nearly US$15 million in cash and assets were seized in the operation, which saw arrests or search warrants executed in 35 US states, 49 cities and the countries of Australia, Barbados, Canada and Panama.
Millions of dollars in drug sale profits were being funnelled to the Middle East, potentially into existing terror networks that are known to fund their illicit operations through drug trafficking, officials said.
The designer drugs, which mimic controlled substances, are among a growing group of illicit compounds that traffickers have marketed in recent years, often attempting to skirt laws by barely modifying the chemical make-up of products like incense, bath salts or jewellery cleaner.