LISBON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Police in Portugal have seized 4.5 tons of benzyl methyl ketone (BMK), a substance used to make synthetic drugs such as ecstasy, the Judicial Police (PJ) announced on Tuesday.
The PJ intercepted the produce as it arrived via air from an unspecified Asian country, ready to be transported by land to another European country.
The smugglers were said to be a transnational organized gang.
Such a quantity of BMK could produce up to 30 million ecstasy pills, making this one of the biggest precursor hauls ever in Portugal, according to police.
The seizure took place some time over the past few weeks with the PJ working in conjunction with colleagues in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as with Portugal's Tax and Customs authority.
The PJ and Europol will continue to investigate the case.
