Investigator notes: Orban out, Hormuz talks fail... and the tide of narcotics to CEE becomes a flood

As the world teeters on the brink of more (and more atrocious) levels of war, we will take solace in the fact that the dark side of Europe remains consistent.

This being big-time drug trafficking, which can be seen in a slew of busts across Central Europe—some of them thought-provoking indeed.

But first, a few quick headlines and guestimations just to stay on top of things:

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded defeat. Those following Hungary—those who understood the anger, what has happened under Orban, especially over the last decade, as well as the ridiculous return to 1990s strategy (some of which I mentioned in a previous blog)—did see this coming. Clearly the US Donald Trump administration and US Vice-president J.D. Vance did not, with Vance stumping for a loser and possibly contributing to quite a major development that may not previously have been on the cards: The Tisza Party under Peter Magyar now has very likely also taken  2/3^rd’s control of Hungarian Parliament. This is actually big news. Hungary’s constant veto of most things EU—including support for Ukraine—was simply not good for the alliance. And essentially now Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, will stand alone. Fico has reacted to Magyar’s victory stating that “the Slovak government supports the revival of the Visegrad Group format” and that he wants to work out fuel issues with Hungary. Translate that and the real message is: “Uh oh—I’m all by myself here.”

• That said, the fuel crisis is coming to Europe. Already wrote about that, but there seems to be no way around this one. But the coming plastic “packaging crisis,” which will impact food, scares me more. As predicted, US negotiations with Iran did not end… with anything. You don’t negotiate with Iran over days, but typically over years. And bluster on the part of Trump that destroyers have sailed through the Strait of Hormuz will not immediately translate to insurers backing tankers there. Especially since Trump then announced that the US Navy will now block the strait… because it is blocked. Erm… ok. Either way, this is ugly stuff. Not saying it’s time to stock up the pantries a la the COVID crisis… but maybe Yours Truly will buy dry goods and canned tuna anyway.
• The continued Ukrainian long-distance strikes on Russian refineries, fuel logistics and chemical producers has been shockingly effective. This includes a strike on a Russian Navy frigate, likely the Pr.11356M Grigorvich-class Admiral Essen. [More here: https://www.kyivpost.com/post/73338 . Here the fact that the Russian Navy has been not only essentially defeated in the Black Sea but imprisoned in its own ports should make US Navy commanders seriously stop and think about continued forays into the Strait of Hormuz. Which is logical, but also keep in mind that, despite headlines that indicate the opposite, US President Donald Trump did say as late as the middle of March that the US did not need Ukrainian help with regard to drones, which could also be assumed to mean advice against drone defence. Combine this with US Vice-president J.D. Vance’s decision to back Hungary’s Orban—and his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (not to mention criticism of the EU for interfering in the Hungarian election while he himself was… attempting to interfere in the Hungarian election as the vice president of the US)—and you have to wonder about just how much true intel is getting to Trump and friends. Then again, it’s not like the press is hiding any of this. Maybe they are just ignoring it.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin called for—and Ukraine’s Zelenskyy agreed to—an Orthodox Easter truce in Ukraine. The truce held… a little bit. Russia claimed there were 1,971 ceasefire violations. Ukraine noted… more than 7,000. Meanwhile, Russian radio has increasingly called for nuclear strikes on the EU and (I kid you not), wrecking the EU together in an alliance with… the US.

Which makes me think. As a somewhat beleaguered type myself, I did at one time go a bit out of my way to insert sarcasm and even jokes into my updates. These days the jokes rather write themselves.

So let’s fall back on the good old stand-by of narco trafficking because… in these dark times consistency in growth is reassuring—even if we are talking about the dark and sordid world of cocaine.

Or maybe we should be optimistic—for the cops are busting traffickers all over. So is this headway? Or is it simply indicative or CEE moral decay. I

Let’s look at the past month of busts and decide together.

This time around I’m going to focus on Poland (as I did get some rather irate personal messages that my blog makes the Balkans look bad—although in my defense, no slant or slight was intended). But let’s just call this indicative, as really there is no doubt in the mind of this investigator that when it comes to narcotics, it’s rough all over.

So going back to the beginning of March, this is what we’ve seen:

• On March 2, the Malopolska CBSP under the direction of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Krakow struck a clophedrone laboratory, arresting two suspects and seizing more than PLN 28 mln in drugs. Thiis means more than 200 kilograms of clophedrone in crystalline form and more than  500 liters of the substance in liquid form were seized. If you think this sounds a bit dangerous, you are right, as firefighters were called in, as the whole caboodle could have resulted in a massive explosion. And not a few firefighters in that the Specialist Chemical and Ecological Rescue Group from Firefighting and Rescue Unit No. 6 in Poznań, the Specialist Chemical and Ecological Rescue Group from the Municipal Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Leszno, the District Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Śrem, and the Volunteer Fire Departments from Dolsk, Małachów, and Książ Wielkopolski were all dispatched to the scene.
• In early March Central Bureau of Investigation (CBSP) agents arrested a 39-year-old man who had weapons, including a AK-47 7.62 mm assault rifle, a Glock 19 pistol with a magazine, and 14 rounds of ammunition, as well as narcotics in a Krakow apartment. Police also seized three kilograms of marijuana, over 1,900 MDMA tablets, and smaller amounts of mephedrone, cocaine, amphetamine, and hashish.
• On March 11, CBSP agents in Silesia seized mor than 42 kilograms of cocaine hidden in concrete bricks. Lukasz W. a 42-year-old Pole was detained and charged in Wroclaw, with the investigation still ongoing.
• On a side note, also in mid-March CBSP officers detained a “Thief-in-Law/Vor v Zakone,” as part of raids to stop foreign organized crime groups operating in Poland. Some will remember similar arrests back in May 2025, during which vory were also arrested—as well as followup arrests in September, during which three more members of the vory were detained. Two have already been extradited from Poland, and another is awaiting deportation. Interesting though is that back in February of this year two Ukrainian citizens were also detained, as they were accused of working with vory, using false documents and generally begin up to no good. Likewise, the same month a Belarussian citizen was detained for the same reason. So what is going on here? Supposedly, the vory will not, as a general rule, work for foreign governments (read: Russia). But to paraphrase Pirates of the Caribbean…  think of this as more of a guideline than a rule.
• On March 19 the CBSP announced it had also arrested a Slovak national as part of an international drug trafficking bust that involved in the smuggling of large quantities of drugs and money laundering. A wanted Slovak citizen, who faces up to 20 years in prison, was detained in Switzerland and extradited to Poland. Police are currently conducting a multi-threaded investigation into the activities of an international criminal group responsible for smuggling wholesale quantities of drugs into Poland and legalizing the funds derived from this activity. The case is being handled under the supervision of the National Prosecutor's Office in Katowice. Drug trafficking charges against the aforementioned Slovak now include smuggling a total of 115 kilograms of ketamine, but interesting is that he also appeared on the management board of a Polish company and then opened a bank account in a Polish bank, which he managed independently. In September 2023, he deposited EUR 25,000 into this account, but on the same day, almost the entire amount was transferred to a Hungarian company as payment for the purchase of cosmetics containing smuggled ketamine. Further transfers were made, and the Slovak in question is now facing up to 20 years in prison. Which again brings us to the ever-present side note and piece of advice: VET YOUR BOARD MEMBERS. Or give Yours Truly a call and we’ll get it done.
• On March 23 CBSP and Border Guard agents announced they had shut down part of an international drug ring, detaining three accused of engaging in in large-scale drug smuggling. During the operation, over 60 kilograms of narcotics, firearms, and property of significant value were seized. The narcotics seized included 27 kilograms of cocaine, 27 kilograms of marijuana, 12 kilograms of mephedrone, and 666 ecstasy tablets. Firearms, magazines, and ammunition were also seized, along with cell phones and data storage devices. The seized property also included cash exceeding 27,000 PLN, designer watches, and gold jewelry. Based on the findings so far, the detainees were responsible for organizing drug smuggling from Western European countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain, into Poland. It is estimated that the group's operations may have brought approximately 1.5 tonnes of illegal substances into the country. The investigation is ongoing, and officers have not ruled out further arrests.
• On March 30, CBSP officers under the District Prosecutor's Office in Suwałki, arrested 11 suspected of participating in an organized criminal group involved in drug trafficking in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The 11 are aged 24 to 50 and were active in the cities of Ełk, Orzysz, Giżycko, and Mikołajki.
• On April 7, CBSP agents and p0olice in Chojnice seized more than 33 kilograms of narcotics with a black market value of PLN 2 mln. Police also seized more than PLN 30,000 in cash.
• Also—only days ago—Silesian CBSP agents, working with the Border Guard, shut down an illegal synthetic drug laboratory in Bedzin County, detaining two men and seizing 44 kilograms of ready-to-be-sold Alfa-PVP, with an estimated black market value of PLN 3.5 million, as well as thousands of liters of substances used in its production. And just in case you’ve never heard of it, Alpha-PVP is a highly addictive psychoactive substance from the synthetic cathinone group, commonly referred to as the "zombie drug." As noted by police, “this drug can cause extreme agitation, aggression, mental disorders, including paranoid states and hallucinations, and can lead to circulatory failure and death. Long-term use of alpha-PVP results in severe addiction and permanent changes in the functioning of the nervous system.”

And believe it or not... February featured a similar run.

But again, in a world of chaos and brinkmanship that threatens to bring us right to the brink, what we need is consistency. Ok, maybe narco-consistency is not the goal, but at this point, I'm willing to grab a-hold of just about anything.

Photo courtesy of the Polish CBSP. 

Preston Smith is a licensed investigator based in Gdansk, Poland. He can be reached at query@cddi.pl.