Gardaí seize 300,000 BZP tablets in 2009

GARDAÍ seized a total of 300,000 BZP tablets in 2009, at a time when the overall illegal drug market contracted sharply.

BZP tablets, once sold as a legal high in so-called headshops, were made illegal last April.

The size of the BZP seizures since then indicates the extent to which drug trafficking gangs have moved in to fill the supply of the drug. Garda sources and sources in the drugs trade suggest BZP tablets are largely taking over the traditional ecstasy market.