Police in Kazakhstan have dismantled a large-scale drug laboratory operated by two brothers in the Turkestan region.

The illegal narcotics production site was discovered in a private house on the outskirts of the town of Arys, where the suspects were reportedly manufacturing drugs on an industrial scale, The Caspian Post reports via Tengrinews.kz.

Officers seized nearly half a ton of liquid mephedrone and 1.5 tons of chemical precursors during the raid. Investigators also confiscated laboratory equipment, including a reactor, flasks, magnetic stirrers, canisters and plastic containers bearing traces of drug production.

The two suspects were detained and placed in temporary custody. The brothers could face lengthy prison terms, including life imprisonment, under Article 297-1 of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code.

Deputy Chairman of the Interior Ministry’s Committee for Countering Drug Crime, Eldar Abdikenov, warned that law enforcement agencies would continue cracking down aggressively on illegal drug manufacturing operations across the country.