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The National Tax and Customs Administration has busted a drug shipment on an unprecedented scale, taking tens of billions of euros out of the pockets of criminals, reports Világgazdaság.
The authority has seized several tons of drug precursors, that is used in the illicit manufacture of narcotics and psychotropic substances, in Sopron, in northwestern Hungary on the Austrian border. The consignment was intercepted by the administration’s Győr-Moson-Sopron county tax inspectors, who cooperated with the National Bureau of Investigation and foreign authorities.
Thanks to successful operations
this drug seizure is considered outstanding at EU level.
Expert analysis has revealed that the criminals could have used the substance to manufacture millions of ecstasy tablets.
In April, a Hungarian farmer initiated the import of a large quantity of chemical substances at the Győr-Moson-Sopron County Tax and Customs Directorate of the National Tax and Customs Administration. However, when inspecting the consignment, the tax inspectors found substances that did not match the declared goods. The suspicious circumstances led to samples being taken and the assistance of the administration’s Institute of Experts was requested. This revealed that the consignment contained a substance called PMK-ethylglycidate, that is used to produce MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. The National Tax and Customs Administration informed the police and filed a criminal complaint. The National Bureau of Investigation seized the entire consignment and initiated proceedings.
Photo via police.hu
In the European Union, seizures of MDMA precursors fell from seven tons in 2019 to two tons in 2020. In comparison,
some 13 tons of the chemical were found in Sopron.
This is a record haul at EU level and is significant for a number of reasons. Experts estimate that criminals could have used the seized consignment to produce millions of ecstasy tablets. This would have generated tens of billions of forints in revenue, but more importantly, it would have put many lives at risk.
Via Világgazdaság, Featured image via police.hu