TWO men were caught in a police raid on a flat turned into a drugs lab which had the potential to produce pounds £5.5 million of a powerful hallucinogenics.

Mitchell Lotz and Robin Sedmak arrived at the house in Greenock’s Cathcart Street while officers were carrying out a search at the premises.

Lotz was asked if there was anything that was potentially hazardous and replied: “Yes don’t touch the chemicals upstairs with your bare hands.”
He said that liquid in a container was “NBOMe”.

Advocate depute Allan Nicol told the High Court in Edinburgh: “It appears that NBOMe tabs were being manufactured in the flat and being sold online.”

Lotz, 27, and Sedmak, 29, both admitted being concerned in the supply of NBOMe, which is sometimes known as N-Bomb or 251. At the time the drug was illegal under a temporary order in Britain but it was later classified as a Class A drug, like heroin or cocaine.

Police found about 1,150,000 tabs at the flat but the vast majority had yet to be dipped with NBOMe.

The 17,500 dipped tabs recovered were worth pounds £88,000, but if the remainder were also processed the operation had the potential to realise more than pounds £5.5 million.

Expert drug officers said that individual NBOMe tabs sold for £5 each.

The prosecutor said police had received confidential information that they were involved in a drug supply operation from the property at 66C Cathcart Street, Greenock, Inverclyde.

When officers arrived at the flat Roderick Boudewijns, 35, was also in the property. He was also charged with drugs offences but was acquitted yesterday after the Crown accepted his not guilty pleas.

Officers found containers holding a clear liquid in a bedroom along with digital scales, beakers and bags of powder.

Small amounts of NBOMe powder were also found. The potent drug has been linked to deaths among users in Europe, America and Australia. 

During the search they also found a lab coat, a mask, grinders, correspondence from a chemical supplier and 136 Ecstasy tablets worth more £1000 on the streets.

Boudewijns told officers that his flatmate Lotz had an internet business selling ‘legal highs’. Laptop computers seized during the raid showed a link between Sedmak’s email address and an internet company which sold legal drugs, and was believed to belong to Sedmak.

Lotz admitted being concerned in the supply of NBome between June and December in 2013 and being concerned in the supply of Ecstasy on May 14 in 2014. Sedmak pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of NBome in 2014.  

Defence counsel Derick Nelson, appearing for Lotz, said the process of preparing NBome was ‘a fairly simple one’. Judge Lady Carmichael called for background reports ahead of sentencing. Lotz and Sedmak were remanded in custody.