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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Polish authorities have seized just over a tonne of heroin, with an estimated value of up to €52 million, at the Baltic port of Gdynia in what officials described as one of Poland’s largest anti-drug operations in recent years.
The seizure took place in the second half of March but was only disclosed now because of ongoing legal proceedings. Three Polish nationals have been arrested so far, with two of them put in pretrial detention.
📢 W Porcie w Gdyni @KAS_Gdansk i @CBSPolicji przechwyciły 1030 kg heroiny. Czarnorynkowa wartość narkotyków przemycanych ze Zjednoczonych Emiratów Arabskich to prawie 220 mln zł. Zatrzymaliśmy 3 osoby – obywateli Polski.
Szczegóły i wideo ⬇️https://t.co/O8zLhYZavE— Krajowa Adm. Skarbowa (@KAS_GOV_PL) June 8, 2026
The operation began after Polish authorities received information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK’s customs and tax authority, suggesting that containers carrying illegal substances could be arriving at the port of Gdynia.
Officers from Poland’s Central Investigation Bureau of Police (CBŚP) and the Pomeranian Customs and Tax Office in Gdynia inspected four containers that had arrived from the United Arab Emirates and were declared as carrying decorative finishing bricks.
After the containers underwent detailed checks, including X-ray scanning and searches by a drug-detection dog, investigators found that the declared cargo was being used to conceal packages of heroin.
In total, officers seized 1,037 kg of heroin with an estimated black-market value of between 156 million zloty and 220 million zloty (€37-52 million), according to statements by the customs office in Gdynia and Gdańsk regional prosecutor’s office.
Subsequently, in early May, officers carried out arrests as part of a nationwide operation. Two men and a woman, aged between 33 and 43 and all Polish nationals, were arrested and later charged by the prosecutors with attempting to transport large quantities of drugs through Poland.
A court ordered the pretrial detention of two of the suspects. Authorities said further arrests remain possible. Smuggling a large amount of heroin carries a prison sentence of at least three years, up to a maximum of 20 years.
At a press conference, interior minister Marcin Kierwiński referred to the case, saying Polish authorities had intensified efforts against drug-related crime in recent months.
“Over the past five months, 49 laboratories and four cannabis plantations have been shut down. During this time, nearly 1,200 people were arrested, and 83 individuals faced charges relating to leading an organised criminal group,” he added, quoted by TVN24.
Poland has played a leading role in the EU's largest-ever operation against synthetic drugs.
Police in six countries dismantled 24 labs, seized tonnes of drugs, and arrested dozens of suspects, including the alleged ringleaders of the network in Poland https://t.co/onRkaTxaxO
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 22, 2026
Finance minister Andrzej Domański said the March seizure ranked among the largest drug busts not only in Poland’s history but also across the European Union.
He argued that the government’s investment in customs inspection infrastructure has improved the effectiveness of enforcement agencies, with the number of drug seizures rising from 422 in 2022 to 1,346 in 2025.
Earlier this year, Europol revealed Poland played a key role in the EU’s largest-ever operation against synthetic drugs. Police in six countries shut down 24 large laboratories, seized tonnes of drugs and arrested dozens of suspects, including alleged network leaders in Poland.
Customs authorities in Gdynia also highlighted several major drug-related seizures in recent years, including 1,050 kg of gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) discovered while in transit from China to Switzerland last year.
Police in Poland have shut down a meth lab and arrested two Mexican men linked to the Sinaloa cartel, who are believed to have been "cooks" overseeing production at the site https://t.co/zPMjreFXoB
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 8, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Pomorski Urząd Celno-Skarbowy w Gdyni (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.
