Ecstasy drug lab found at NATO airbase in Belgium

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An airbase belonging to NATO, the force for spreading democracy and freedom in the world, has been caught hosting an illegal drug lab. 

The Kleine-Brogel airbase, located in northeastern Belgium, was busted by Belgian law enforcement as a drug lab facility was discovered on Wednesday. 

According to authorities, a "neighboring house" adjacent to the installation's premises was involved in the operation as well. Hard drugs, such as ecstasy, were being manufactured at the lab. 

During the raid, two suspects were arrested - however, they were not military personnel, and they were released with some conditions. 

The Kleine-Brogel airbase is believed to have a stockpile of US A-bombs and weapons under the NATO nuclear-sharing contracts. The number of warheads stored at the base is unknown. Back in 2019, a Green MP told Belgium’s parliament that some 10 to 20 nuclear weapons were stockpiled at the site.

The Guardian has written about the drug lab on the airbase, but removed the news piece just after users started propagating it on social media.

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The crackdown on the airbase comes on the same day the NATO Summit in Madrid launched, where the strategic concept for the aggressive alliance for the next 10 years is being laid out. 

During the summit, NATO leaders labeled Russia a threat to their security, with the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg saying that NATO will “state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security,” as the alliance seeks to upgrade its defense response, by strengthening its eastern flank, given the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Stoltenberg stated that the summit in Madrid is considered “historic and transformative", adding that the leaders "meet in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War."