Police seize world’s largest ecstasy haul

AUSTRALIAN authorities recovered over one tonne of ecstasy tablets hidden in a shipment of ceramic tiles in the world’s largest seizure of the drug, police said yesterday.

The shipment of five million ecstasy tablets arrived in the southern Australian city of Melbourne from Italy earlier in the week, said police, who valued the drugs at over €148 million.

“Clearly, this was a major shipment involving a well organised syndicate that was aiming to put a massive amount of tablets onto Australian streets,” Victoria state customs official Jaclyne Fisher said in a statement.

Customs said an X-ray of the shipment revealed anomalies inside eight pallets of tiles and an inspection found dozens of packets containing millions of tablets, weighing just over a tonne.

The previous largest Australian ecstasy haul occurred in November 2004 in Sydney, when some 816 kilograms of ecstasy tablets and powder were seized, said Australian Federal Police (AFP).

“Over the past two years the AFP has seen a dramatic increase in the importation of ecstasy into Australia,” AFP agent Mike Phelan said in a statement.

Four people have been charged in connection with the shipment and were due to appear before the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court yesterday.