Police came to the apartment and detained a 22-year-old suspected drug dealer found cooking a batch of the substance, a narcotics police spokesperson told Interfax. A subsequent search revealed a 250-liter polymeric container filled to the brim with a synthetic narcotic. Another alleged participant in the drug ring, a 24-year-old resident of the same Tatarstan city, was detained later.
Police estimated that the confiscated drugs had a street value of around 200 million rubles ($6.8 million).
Investigators said the drugs' producers ordered raw materials from abroad and had them delivered in labeling for tea or plant seeds, Interfax reported.
The two suspects are expected to face charges of large-scale narcotics production, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
