The Solitude Sentinel, YC 123/1/7
Raided Drug Lab in Heluene Deadspace Pocket Found To Contain Aenebra Cult Paraphernalia
Heluene, Elerelle District
Following an uptick in reported activity by the Aenebran Intaki death cult in Solitude, and sparked by the assassination of another slain Federal Drug Enforcement officer in the Octanneve system, Federal Navy authorities have recently stepped up patrols throughout the more lawless districts of Solitude in an attempt to crack down on further criminal elements that would compliment the existing saturation of Serpentis drug lords in the region. In part due to the gradual return to normalcy for Federation forces in the wake of the Triglavian invasions, numeros Serpentis-affiliated and other independent drug and booster distrubution bases have emerged in Solitude, including in areas such as the Orvanne district where the Niballe system saw Federal authorities halt a large drug distribution operation that distributed boosters, primarly Exile, to buyers across the entire district. As the assasination of the FDE official occured a day later, Federal Intelligence officials had been called in to deduce whether the Niballe operation had any links to the Aenebra death cult, although no such link had been found.
Previously active in the Placid region, most notably in the Intaki system, the barbaric cult operates around a variation of the concept of rebirth in Intaki spirituality that glorifies death, and have a history of willfully slaughtering Federal citizens to achieve their macabre goals. While mostly beaten back in to the Syndicate by Federal forces in YC 110, the relatively dormant cult seems to have emerged again in Federation space, thus prompting the increase of Navy patrols in the region. While raids on numerous drug labs in the Elose, Braille and Elerelle districts had not yielded any trace of Aenebran activity, a recent raid on a facility in Heluene led Federal forces to discover a cache of weaponry that had been emblazoned with the Aenebran insignia.
Pictured: The suspected Aenebra Cult affiliated drug facility, which now remains in Federal custody.
The facility, located in a deadspace pocket near Heluene V, was guarded by vessels that were reminiscent of the typical Serpentis liveries, although no formal decals or other designs on the ships indicated that they were of Serpentis origin. The outward defenders were dispatched through the efforts of the Mobrault Security Consultants in an operation conducted by capsuleer Clordilen Ellevrette, which then allowed FDE authorities to board the facility in overwhelming force. Numerous arrests were made, including the staff of the facility, as well as buyers seeking to procure some of the Drop supplied by the drug runners. Initial searches of the drug facility returned standard results, but upon a search of the cargo platform directly below the facility proper, a container holding various small arms and bladed weaponry emblazoned with confirmed Aenebra iconography were discovered. As a result, the arrested staffers of the facility have been turned over to local FIO authorities for questioning.
Neither the FDE, FIO, nor Mr. Ellevrette could be reached by the Sentinel for comments on the matter, however, the MBSC had released a statement acknowledging the Aenebra cult, and their “dedication to stamping out their activity wherever in the region it is detected.”
