Multimedia: Record Safrole Seizure

Release Date: Thursday, September 22 2011, 03:40 PM

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service have dismantled an organised crime syndicate in Sydney and have potentially stopped more than 2.3 million ecstasy tablets from hitting the nation’s streets.

The AFP has arrested three Sydney men following Australia’s largest seizure of pure safrole – a banned pre-cursor chemical used in the manufacture of MDMA or ecstasy.

Approximately 288 litres of pure safrole was concealed in more than 2800 litres of safrole oil, labelled as liquid hair and cleaning products imported from China. It was enough of the banned chemical to produce almost 235 kg of MDMA with an estimated street-value of more than $70 million.